Without doubt, what seemed so hopelessly remote and improbable only two years ago appears to be moving at an unprecedented pace towards the deceptive Mideast peace that sets the stage for the final sequence of events leading to the Lord’s return. Just what form this will take or how long it will be in its development remains to be seen, but prophecy clearly shows that a disarming illusion of peace is the necessary prelude to the shock that must come to Israel and the world.

The danger that besets these exciting developments is the tendency to make premature announcements that discredit prophecy just when its greatest potential for witness and warning is nearing the appointed time when it will be time to say with assurance and authority, “this is that!” (Acts 2:16). Even now, well meaning prophecy watchers are making premature declarations that the final seven has already started.

Others are more cautious to say only that the conditions necessary for the peace that begins the final seven are falling fast into place. Although a necessary first step, the enforcement of a multi-national peace arrangement is not by itself sufficient to signal the start of the last seven, UNLESS this is accompanied by certain equally foretold conditions and signal events. This is what we want to look at in what follows, as it will be a safeguard against the false alarms and premature announcements that are sure to fill the air.

It might be time well repaid for serious students of the scripture to become at least somewhat familiar and respectful of the kind of difficulties and perplexities that have baffled Daniel scholars of all schools (Prov 18:13<; 2Tim 2:15). It is well to remember that according to Daniel’s prophecy, certain outstanding details will not be unsealed till the end is very near (Dan 12:4, 9). Yet, the scripture is equally clear that these things will be revealed well enough before the end to ‘prepare a people to prepare a people’ (Dan 11:33; 12:3, 10).

So while we can expect the signs that Daniel reveals to come into increasing clarity as the time nears, caution, patience, and humility is appropriate, since no other book has given rise to more diverse and conflicting interpretations.

Not only this, but Daniel has been the most tortured object of critical attack by so-called higher criticism than any book of the canon. This should not surprise us, since Satan knows that the end of his rule has been set according to Daniel’s timeline (Rev 12:12).

The difficulties that have plagued Daniel scholarship is not a call to resigned despair or neglect, but to prayer and patient waiting for the promised unsealing that is divinely set to serve its greatest purpose at “the time of the end” (Dan 8:17; 11:27, 35, 40; 12:4, 9, 13). Part of that purpose will be the compelling witness of fulfilled prophecy and its meaning as a catalyst for what scripture more than hints will be the greatest worldwide harvest of souls in history (compare Dan 11:33; 12:3; Mt 24:14; Rev 7:9, 13-14; 14:6).

Paradoxically the great number that will be saved out of “the tribulation, the great one” (double use of the definite article in the Greek) will take place during the time of the greatest deception and revolt against the truth (Mt 24:4-5, 11, 24; 2Thes 2:11; Rev 13:14).

The difficulties that have baffled and divided Daniel scholarship only further confirms that God has chosen to keep certain mysteries under wraps till the appointed time (Isa 8:14-17; Dan 9:24; 12:4, 9). It is also no surprise that Satan is fully invested to obscure and discredit this most embattled of all biblical books.

The unequaled tribulation of the final half week begins with a war in heaven. Michael “stands” to thrust Satan down to earth. This is the moment Satan fears most, since it means his tenure as “the god of this age” has been reduced to a final 3 ½ years (compare Dan 12:1, 11; Mt 24:15, 21, with Rev 12:7-14).

Because “he sees his time is short” (Rev 12:12), his total focus will be to defeat the promise by wiping out the Jewish race before it reaches the finish line at Jesus’ post-tribulational return to “finish the mystery of God” (Amos 3:7 with Rev 10:7). Hence, it may well be said that the downfall of the devil is in the details of Daniel, since the unsealing of Daniel’s prophecy sets in motion the final unmasking of Satan in the revelation of the ancient mystery of lawlessness in the revelation of the man of lawlessness (2Thes 2:3-4, 7-8).

Until then, there is much that can be known that will be decisive in whether we are prepared to recognize what is most urgent to know in the time most urgent to know it. Until then, we should approach the mysteries of Daniel with humility and patience, in the faith conviction that difficulties that seem to defy easy resolution do not exist by chance but by sovereign design. God intends that His children know they are searching out a divinely ordained mystery that is not intended to yield its full light apart from the mercy and grace of our sovereign teacher, the Holy Spirit.

Those will be most blessed in the time of full disclosure who have “searched and inquired diligently” (1Pet 1:10). Blessed are those who, in trembling dependence on the Holy Spirit, have “set their heart” to understand (Dan 10:12) the divine secrets that it has been God’s pleasure to conceal from the prideful, self-reliant wisdom of this age (Mt 11:25-26; 1Cor 2:7-8).

Not that we will resolve every question, but we want to know what the evidence rules out, rules in, or leaves open to question till the time. We want to identify any safeguards that the scripture provides that will protect us from the peril of presumption, as prophecy has been so marred and discredited by the false alarms of prophetic speculation.

But there is a time to sound the alarm, and it is always time to study and prepare ourselves to recognize the time when it arrives. We want to be neither early nor late when it is time to announce that “the time is fulfilled” (Dan 11:33; 12:3; Hab 2:2-3; Mk 1:15).

From our study, it seems most probable that the scripture intends that we look for the Antichrist to arise from somewhere to the north of Israel. Since the pattern of the past often prefigures the future in Hebrew prophecy, it becomes significant that the final aggressor, whose end coincides with the redemption of the great day, is specifically called “the Assyrian” in the typology of the pre-exilic prophets, Isaiah and Micah (Isa 10:5-6, 24:17; 11:4; 14:25; 19:23; 30:31; 31:8; Mic 5:1-7).

In Isaiah and Jeremiah, the foe from the north (“north country”) is identified with the Chaldeans under the king of Babylon (Isa 14:4, 12-14, 25-26, 31-32; 23:14; 47:1, 6, 9; Jer 6:22; 10:22; 50:9). In Ezekiel, the last aggressor is Gog. Clearly, this is the final aggressor, long foretold, not only by Ezekiel but by the many prophets of Israel (see Eze 38:17).

The nations under his command surround Israel from all sides (Eze 38:5-7, 9), but his descent is always depicted as coming from the “far north” (NKJV; NIV) / “uttermost parts of the north” (ESV; ASV) / “distant north” (NLT) / “remotest parts of the north” (NASB / CSB  (Eze 38:15; 39:2).

Here too, there is cause for caution. Who is Gog? When does he attack and how long does the battle last? How far north is his country or countries of origin?

Since Gog’s multinational invasion begins when Israel is in a state of unsuspecting false security (Isa 28:14-18; Eze 38:8, 11, 14; 39:26; Dan 11:23-24; 1Thes 5:3) but ends with Gog’s destruction at the Armageddon “great day of God Almighty” (Eze 39:8 with Rev 16:12-19) and Israel’s everlasting salvation (Eze 39:22, 28-29), the only conclusion that fits all the evidence is that this battle comprehends the entire 42 months of the great tribulation. It starts with the shock of an unexpected invasion that violates the illusory presumption of peace and ends with Israel’s post-tribulational regeneration and everlasting salvation.

This is significant because the full cast of nations that are gathered by the seduction of demon spirits to Armageddon (compare Dan 11:40-45 with Rev 16:12), do not join the fray until very late towards the end of the tribulation (compare Dan 11:40-45 with Rev 16:12-17; Eze 39:8). This means Ezekiel’s comprehensive vision of Eze 38 & 39 may include nations that come in at the end and are not necessarily one of the union of ten that strike Israel at the beginning of the tribulation.

Furthermore, since Gog is called a “chief prince” over many nations (Eze 38:2-3; 39:1), this may imply something more than only a human leader. According to Paul, “his coming is after the working of Satan with ALL power, signs, and deceiving wonders (2Thes 2:9). Never before has the world seen anything like this.

The case is too involved to enter upon here, but we believe the “mystery of lawlessness” (2Thes 2:7) that is revealed in the man of lawlessness is the revelation of Satan in the flesh, the antithesis of the mystery of God manifest in the flesh (1Tim 3:16). I mention this because the scripture calls the archangel, Michael, “one of the chief princes (Dan 10:13).

This suggests that “THE chief prince” over the nations of the gentiles (Gen 10) could be Satan himself, cryptically referred to as Gog. Gog would then double as both Satan and the Antichrist because he fulfills the mystery of Satan in the flesh. This understanding explains why this title is again used to apply to Satan’s post-millennial release for the “little season” of futile threat to the everlasting peace of regathered Israel (Rev 20:3, 7-9).

But beyond this general reference to the southward descent of the northern invader, depending on how certain debated passages in Daniel are interpreted, it is possible that the typology of the scripture points us to a much narrower, more specific territory from which the final Antichrist may be expected to rise. The passages in question are Dan 8:8-9 & Dan 11:3-21. These verses specify the territory ruled by Antiochus Epiphanes IV. He was the Greek tyrant who attacked Jerusalem and famously desecrated the temple by sacrificing a pig on the altar and erecting a statue of Zeus in 167 BCE.

Because Antiochus arose out of one of the four primary divisions of Alexander’s kingdom, scholars usually identify him as the “little horn” of Dan 8:9 who also abolished the daily sacrifice in Dan 8:11. But while Antiochus IV was certainly a type of the “coming prince” (Dan 9:26), we will show in what follows why we cannot accept that he was the complete and ultimate fulfillment.

In notable contrast to Antiochus, the coming “little horn” of Dan 7:8 (the final Antichrist) is one who rises up from among ten nations to lead them in a united invasion Israel. The end of the little horn comes, not three years after the abomination of desolation is placed, as in the case of Antiochus’ desecration (Dec 164 to Dec 167), but 3 1/2 years later with the completion of the predestined half week of Dan 7:25; 9:27; 12:7, 11).

Such often neglected distinctions are placed in the text to protect the careful interpreter from a hasty presumption that a near parallel or partial fulfillment in the past has sufficiently satisfied the language of the text. It is certain that Jesus was not satisfied that Antiochus’ desecration sufficiently fulfilled Daniel’s reference to the abomination of desolation. He puts it fully in the future in relation to the unequaled tribulation that ends with nothing short of His return in glory and the resurrection of the righteous (compare Mt 24:15, 21, 29-31 with Dan 12:1-2).

Moreover, so far from being a “little horn” who “becomes strong with a small people” (Dan 11:23), Antiochus rose to power in the largest of the four “notable horns” of Alexander’s divided kingdom (Dan 8:5, 8). The territory of the Seleucid Empire stretched from Antioch (named after his father, Antiochus III) to the Mesopotamian regions of Babylonia and Assyria, all of which had been under Macedonian control after the division of Alexander’s kingdom among his successors (Dan 8:8-9; 11:3-21).

On this basis, it has been long expected that someone would rise up from within that general territory towards the end of Hosea’s 2nd millennial day (Hos 5:15-6:2). For this reason, many were reasonably considering whether Jolani (aka Amed al Sharaa) might be the fulfillment of one who would stand up in the estate of Antiochus IV, the great eschatological prototype of the final AC.

The problem with Jolani’s candidacy for the one who enters into an alliance with Israel (Dan 11:23) is that he did not come into power “peaceably”, nor by deceit and smooth promises, as stated in Dan 11:21, but by force of arms. I’m aware that some translations translate, Dan 11:24 “at a time of peace, or tranquility” but that too fails to fit the conditions by which Assad of Syria was so suddenly replaced.

And yet, never has there been a more credible and promising prospect for the kind of deceptive, false peace that the scripture depicts as necessarily preceding the sudden and unexpected outbreak of the final tribulation as we’re now seeing unfold before our eyes (compare Isa 28:14-18; Jer 30:3-7; Eze 38:8, 11, 14; 39:26; Dan 9:27; 11:24; Mt 24:15-16, 21; 1Thes 5:3; Rev 11:2 with Joel 2:1-3). Ominously, this is all taking place after the greatest upsurge of rabid world antisemitism, not seen since the Hitler time. By any fair reckoning, the stage is being set.

Whether the territory once ruled by Antiochus IV significantly narrows the general area of the AC’s origin will depend on our answer to a very important question debated by scholars. Does the “ vile / despicable person” of Dan 11:21 refer to Antiochus or the future Antichrist, or both? If to Antiochus, this would mean that the willful king who exalts himself over all forms of deity in Dan 11:36-37 is someone else entirely, already nearly 22 centuries removed from Antiochus’ time. You see the puzzle.

The far greater consensus among Daniel scholars is that Dan 11:21 & Dan 11:36 are speaking of two distinct individuals separated by many centuries. This means that both do the same thing, as described in nearly precisely the same words. Both take away the daily sacrifice (regular burn offering) and place the abomination. To reiterate, this would mean that Dan 11:31 (assumed to be past) is a completely different event from Dan 12:11 (assumed to be future).

So, is it only Antiochus, (as a highly descriptive type of the coming Antichrist) who is introduced in Dan 11:21? Or is it the Antichrist himself? All will agree that Antiochus functions as a type, but “if” Dan 11:21 does not introduce the Antichrist, then looking for him to rise somewhere within the estate (general vicinity) of Antiochus IV loses its primary support. It opens the field for him to come from a more expansive area, albeit necessarily to Israel’s north.

Antiochus came into the estate of his deceased brother, Seleucus IV, who succeeded his father, Antiochus III. This becomes significant if Antiochus is a type of the Antichrist, but especially if the person who comes to power in verse 21 is the same person who exalts himself in Dan 11:36-37. I want to show in what follows that there is no exegetical justification to find the break between antiquity and the time of the end between verse Dan 11:35 & Dan 11:36, but much more likely between Dan 11:20 & Dan 11:21.

We begin by pointing out where agreement is almost universal. Due to Paul’s verbatim quotation of Dan 11:36-27 in 2Thes 2:4, few will dispute that Daniel’s willful king is Paul’s man of lawlessness. Nor is there any disagreement that Jesus quotes the language of Dan 11:31 & Dan 12:11 to identify the sign that He expects His disciples to recognize as the event that starts the unequaled tribulation (Dan 11:31; 12:1, 11 with Mt 24:15-16, 21).

But is the abomination of Dan 11:31 the same event as the abomination of Dan 12:11? This is the very question that has divided Daniel scholars. It will decide whether the events spanning from Dan 11:21-35 have relevance for the future.

Though several reputable commentators over the years have offered a compelling defense of the position we take (I have a few in my library), we remain in the comparatively rare minority. This is not the place to recount them all, but there are notable details in Dan 11:21-35 that do not agree with certain aspects of the well documented history of Antiochus Epiphanes IV’s career leading up to his desecration of the temple. We will look at just a couple of examples:

With rare exception, most conservative scholars assume that because Antiochus was such a remarkable type of the coming man of lawlessness that the references to the removal of the sacrifice in Dan 8:11 & Dan 11:31 can only apply to him as the complete and final fulfillment, leaving only Dan 9:27 & Dan 12:11 to have a future fulfillment.

Let us look more closely at what this postulate implies. If Dan 11:31 has in view a different time and event than Dan 12:11, this would mean that mention of the abomination and removal of Tamid (regular burnt offering) of Dan 12:11 is NOT referring back to the familiar event mentioned earlier in Dan 11:31. Instead, it means that Dan 12:11, while a very similar event, is already nearly 22 centuries removed from the abomination of Dan 11:31, despite its being described in so nearly the same words.

These are the very words that Jesus will use to describe the sign that marks the beginning of the final tribulation that will surpass anything in the past or future (Mt 24:15-21). Even His reference to the unequaled time of trouble in Mt 24:21 is a direct quotation of Dan 12:1. Therefore, to NOT expect a future repeat of a very similar act in “Judea”, comparable to Antiochus’ desecration, amounts to a blatant denial of Jesus’ own, manifest understanding.

This is why Jesus sends His disciples to read and understand Daniel’s account of this particular event (Mt 24:15). He knew that by these unmistakable connections the time and nature of this massively transitional event would be recognized by His sheep, visibly, unmistakably, beyond any question (Mt 24:15; 2Thes 2:4). This will be their strategic advantage for the final thrust of the gospel before the end (Mt 24:14).

Should we then accept the verdict of the far greater number of commentators who believe that Dan 11:21-35 should be interpreted to apply to Antiochus, not as an archetypal foreshadowing of that last aggressor, but as completely fulfilled in 167 BCE by his desecration of the temple? This would also mean that Dan 11:32-35 are applied, not to the tribulation of the end, but to the ensuing persecution of Antiochus that ended in the triumph of the Maccabean warriors and rededication of the temple almost exactly three years later in 164 BCE.

While not all agree that 11:21-35 is past history, there is broad consensus that the abomination and removal of the daily sacrifice of Dan 12:11 is the start of the half week of Dan 7:25; 9:27; 11:12:7; Rev 11:2-3; 12:6, 14; 13:5). On this we agree. We do not agree that Dan 11:21-35 can be consigned to the past. This means Dan 11:31 & Dan 12:11 are both equally future. Dan 11:31 was partially prefigured by Antiochus’ desecration, but both 11:31 & 12:11 have primary and ultimate reference to the same event.

So to summarize: Because Paul is so clear in his duplication of the words of Dan 11:36-37 applied to the man of lawlessness in 2Thes 2:4, most scholars locate the gap of centuries between versus 35 & 36. From this point to the end of the book, there is common agreement that the topic is the future Antichrist and the unparalleled tribulation of the final 3 ½ years.

This is not in dispute. Our difference lies with the view that Dan 11:21-35 has been fulfilled by Antiochus IV in the second century BCE. Antiochus was a type and pattern of the one to come but he did not satisfy some of the necessary details of the prophecy, thus demanding a future and more complete fulfillment, arriving at the end that is “determined” (Dan 9:24, 26; 11:36) / “appointed” (Dan 8:19; 11:27, 35).

In several notable particulars, Antiochus does not well enough match the profile that history provides. His rise to power certainly did not begin in the way described. He was certainly no “little horn”, since he never began with a “small people” but inherited directly and at once his father’s and brother’s rule over the greatest of the four “notable horns” (Dan 8:9; 11:5).

To argue for the break of centuries to be located between verses Dan 11:35 & Dan 11:36 would mean that the “willful king” of vs 36 introduces another individual entirely, but the continuity of the preceding succession of pronouns militates against such a conjecture. In all, the cumulative evidence weighs against the view that Dan 11:31 & 12:11 are completely different events, signifying two different ends of two different times, centuries removed, despite being described in by the words in the the same prophecy. How likely? You decide.

The stakes are high in this decision, because “if” commentators are wrong in their consignment of Dan 11:21-35 to antiquity, a substantial number of revealed details about the first half of Daniel’s 70th week risks being robbed from the knowledge and witness of the church. We can hardly begin to estimate how invaluable this knowledge will prove to be in its appointed time.

So much is at stake whether the godly remnant will be able to recognize and benefit from a knowledge of the events that occupy the first half Daniel’s 70th week that run from Dan 11:23-30.

So, we ask, does the “appointed time of the end” in Dan 11:27, 35 refer to a completely different end than the “time of the end” in Dan 12:4, 9, 13? The far greater number of scholars think so. What do you think? Will it matter then? Doesn’t matter now?

Notice too that the reference in Dan 11:27 to “the appointed time of the end” comes before the first mention of the abomination of desolation in Dan 11:31. How then can we say that the same “appointed end” mentioned in Dan 11:35 refers to a different end than described in Dan 12:4, 9-13? The details of the text must take priority whether history confirms a complete fulfillment or only partial fulfillment, designed to function only as a type and pattern of a more complete and comprehensive fulfillment in the future.

As mentioned, many, actually most commentators make “appointed time of the end” in Dan 11:27 & Dan 11:35 to be speaking about the end of the Maccabean struggle over the Seleucid armies of Antiochus IV. According to this interpretation, this is NOT the same “time of the end” referred to in Dan 11:40, 45; 12:4, 8-13. Instead, most commentators treat this undeniable similarity as two distinct ends of two different (albeit very similar) times of assault on Jerusalem, its temple and sacrifice, nearly 22 centuries apart.

The extreme awkwardness of this view can be illustrated by juxtaposing two parallel passages of undeniable similarity, but are they the same? Do they signify the same time? Most say yes. A few say no. You make the call.

Dan 11:35:

“And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.”

Dan 12:9-10:

“And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.”

This alone is enough to cast doubt on the Antiochus interpretation, not that he did not prefigure and typify the coming Antichrist in his attack on the holy covenant centered in Jerusalem, but he falls significantly short in certain particulars that do not match some of the details of Dan 11:21-35. This argues for a fuller, more exact and complete fulfillment of every yet outstanding detail.

Alls to say, if Dan 11:21-35 is wrongly relegated to the past, then the witnessing, prophetic body of Christ risks being robbed of crucial end time information that is intended for their advantage and the greater glory of an infallible scripture that requires that not a single jot or tittle pass unfulfilled.

On the other hand, if we are correct that the AC is introduced in Dan 11:21, we are justified to be looking for one who has or will come to power in an initially small country of modest beginnings somewhere to the north of Israel. This will not be through natural succession, but apparently, seizing upon a momentary vacancy, he snakes his way to the top by “flattery” (slippery fair promises), as implied in Dan 11:21-23. This description stands in notable contrast to the historical account of how Antiochus came to power by wresting the throne from a usurper accused of assassinating his brother, Seleucus IV. Again, there are points of notable variance between the details of the prophecy and the historical record of Antiochus’ accession to the throne.

So, unless we are overlooking something (always a real and present danger), there may yet be a longer wait between what we’re seeing now and the “alliance” of Dan 11:23 that ‘appears’ (?) to be the same time that “he” (i.e., the coming prince of Dan 9:26) “confirms” (makes firm / strengthens) the covenant with the many to begin the final seven (Dan 9:27).

If Dan 11:21-35 is retrieved as yet future, then from the alliance of Dan 11:23 to the abomination of Dan 11:31, we have been given a clear chronological sequence of events that occupy the first half of the week.

Sometime after the alliance of Dan 11:23, but before the abomination of Dan 11:31, the sacrifice (regular burn offering) will be restored. If not already apparent, this will remove all doubt that we have crossed over into the final seven.

But there is more that will confirm that we are in the final seven. “AFTER the league made with him” (11:23), he attacks and overcomes a king to his south (Dan 11:25-27). This conquest of the southern king does not appear to impinge on the security of Israel. The conquered king is not killed but joins his conqueror in a secret plot to destroy the holy covenant at Jerusalem, but the plan comes to nothing because the time is not right (Dan 11:27).

These are things those living at that time will see. From this, they will be able to anticipate what comes next, play by play.

Manifestly, the alliance of Dan 11:23 is made with Israel in particular, but since Dan 9:27 says he confirms the covenant “with many”, it seems possible, I think probable, that the AC will be only one among many other nations that are united in common consent to recognize (confirm) Israel’s right, not only to a portion of their promised Land, but also their return to the temple service in Jerusalem as commanded in the law.

This is why the covenant that is confirmed by political expedience while fiercely hated by the AC is called “the holy covenant” (Dan 11:28, 30). It is this recognition of the “holy covenant” in particular either by the AC alone, or more likely an international cast of several nations that starts the seven.

So is the league / alliance of Dan 11:23 the same event described in Dan 9:27? It appears likely, but can’t say with final certainty. If the alliance and the confirming of the covenant are part of a single event, then we can see a certain sequence of specific events that will precede the abomination.

After the alliance of Dan 11:23, the Antichrist makes two distinct southward advances before a third whereupon he invades the Land and places the abomination of desolation (Dan 11:31).

The first is the successful conquest of a nation to his south that increases his power base (Dan 11:25-28). The second southward move is intercepted and repulsed by the “ships of Chittim” (Kittim in some translations). This momentary frustration fills him with rage against the holy covenant centered in Jerusalem (Dan 11:30).

It is inviting to speculate that it is just here that he secretly unites the ten nations that have waited for an opportunity to destroy the peace and recapture Jerusalem for the Caliphate. The check and restraint of the guardian naval power stationed in the Mediterranean is short-lived, as the now fully united ten nation confederacy floods the Land with overwhelming force (Isa 28:2, 15; 59:19; Dan 9:26, 11:22; Eze 38:9, 16; Rev 12:15-16), whereupon he captures Jerusalem (Zech 14:2), enters and defiles the “holy place” by taking away the regular burn offering and placing the abomination of desolation, as he exalts himself “above all that is called God or that is worshipped” (Dan 11:31; 36-37; Mt 24:15; 2Thes 2:4) and begins 3 1/2 years of treading down the holy city (Isa 28:18; 63:18; Mic 5:5; Dan 8:13; ; Lk 21:24; Rev 11:2).

Now the question: Why and how would Israel in the modern context ever so completely relax their guard as to be taken as much by surprise as they were on Oct 7? How does Israel come to such a presumption of peace as described in Isa 28:14-18; Eze 38:8, 11, 14; 39:26; 1Thes 5:3?

I would propose that this comes, not only when peace is initially declared and internationally imposed upon dissenters, but it comes with the glaze of false security that will steal over the minds of the population when the ships of Kittim (US? NATO?) turn back the threat of the AC’s second southward advance. This is when the boast of peace and safety will soar (Amos 9:9-10; Isa 28:14-18; 1Thes 5:3).

I’ve always speculated that the ill-fated declaration of 1Thes 5:3 has most particularly to do with what Israel will feel after the ships of Chittim have successfully checked the second southward advance of the northern king. After such a show of seemingly impregnable protection, the peace will ‘seem’ invincible.

Now ask this question: How formidable would the naval power have to be that can halt and turn back the man who in just the next verse (Dan 11:30-31) will rally and return, this time with a confederacy of ten nations united in their commitment to overwhelm and destroy, not only unsuspecting Israel, but the west may very well find itself suddenly incapacitated, unable to mount a successful resistance against the Antichrist’s all prevailing military supremacy? (Dan 11:31with Rev 13:4).

Could this happen in conjunction with an unexpected nuclear strike on the west? That’s where I see the cumulative evidence pointing.

There will be gaps in our knowledge and doubtless surprises, as more becomes un-sealed as the day approaches, but who will not consider that the unprecedented alignment of foretold events happening right before our eyes represent giant steps that perfectly align with what prophecy gives us to expect?

A fragile peace appears to be in the making, potentially unprecedented and against all odds only two years ago. When consolidated and set in place, a growing sense of security will doubtless follow. At length, the growing presumption of lasting security will become the ill-fated boast of Isa 28:15, 18; 1Thes 5:3. That boast is against the warning that prophetic witnesses will be sounding throughout the nations (Ps 19:4).

The warning will be generally dismissed at first, it will continue to speak to Israel during the time of their wilderness flight from the face of the Antichrist (Isa 28:16-19; Dan 11:32-33; 12:3; Rev 12:6, 7-14). The Antichrist’s pursuit of Jewish blood must continue until the light of the gospel breaks through the veil, as the penitent Jewish survivors of the tribulation see the one whom the nation pierced coming in the clouds of divine glory (Zech 12:10; Mt 24:30; 26:64; 1Thes 4:17; Rev 1:7). It is no accident that our president confidently announced, “eternal peace in the Mideast!”.

That declaration, while the equivalent of Jeremiah’s, “Peace, peace!” When there is no peace (Jer 6:14; 8:11), is no less a piece of sovereign divine providence. Such an extravagant expression of optimism reveals the very self-reliant humanism that boasts of accomplishing by natural means what God has reserved to Himself alone, namely, “eternal peace in the Mideast” by the long-awaited advent of the Prince of Peace. “Not by might nor by power but by My Spirit says the Lord!”

So let us guard against the tendency to assume that the long-awaited peace will necessarily include the Antichrist’s confirmation of the covenant that starts the last seven. It may but it may not.

Recognition of the futurity of Dan 11:21-35 leads us to consider that the covenant of Dan 9:27 may be more than a presumed “peace treaty” with the Antichrist. It is more likely his confirmation (strengthening / support / endorsement) of the “holy covenant” of Dan 11:22, 28, 30, 32.

This has implications for the revival of the ancient sacrifice and restoration of the “holy place” in the temple at Jerusalem (Mt 24:15; 2Thes 2:4). Hence, we must be careful and cautious to distinguish things that are not the same, lest we misidentify and thus mislead.

To be sure, at some point, what could hardly be imagined only two years ago, will exist. There will be a disarming illusion of peace, doubtless protected by one or more of the great world powers.

In its early stages, this remarkable achievement may not immediately include the AC’s “confirmation” (recognition) of the covenant of Dan 9:27, but it will be the framework that makes provision for it.

Why this caution? According to Dan 9:4; 11:22, 28, 30, 32, the covenant is not merely a peace pact, as many have perhaps too hastily assumed. In all other uses of the word throughout the book of Daniel, the covenant is God’s covenant with Israel. So if the covenant of Dan 9:27 signifies nothing more than a peace pact, this one verse would be the only exception. However, if the covenant of Dan 9:27 is the same as THE “holy covenant” of Dan 11:28, 30, a whole new vista comes into consideration.

This would mean that the AC, with “many” others, will be confirming the very covenant that has come down through Abraham’s promise of the Land, through Moses’ institutions of temple service, and through David’s acquisition of the elect city of Jerusalem. If this is the “covenant” that the AC confirms to begin the final 7 [years], then it is more than a peace pact with the AC.

Yes, a preceding peace agreement will certainly need to be in place for the “holy covenant” to be confirmed, whether as part of the initial peace plan or a later event made possible by the peace plan. In other words, it is at least possible that the covenant (assuming it is the same as the “holy covenant” of Dan 9:4; 11:22, 28, 30, 32), may not be confirmed at the same moment the peace is first initiated. It remains to be seen.

In this case, it is NOT the peace agreement that starts the seven years but the confirming of the covenant, even the covenant that Dan 11:28, 30 calls the “holy covenant”. Although inextricably related, the peace plan that may soon be implemented may not immediately include the confirmation of the “holy covenant”.

It is possible the peace plan may come into play and be agreed on by the major parties and exist for some time before the AC confirms the holy covenant. It is also possible that the he is only one of “many” nations that will unite to acknowledge, not only Israel’s right to exist, but their right to temple access to sacrifice again.

As remote as such an eventuality may seem at the moment, it MUST come about, since for the sacrifice to be stopped, it must first be started, and it must conform to the pattern of the past in the passages where Antiochus serves as an importantly instructive type.

So we must guard the delicate balance between watchful vigilance and hasty presumption, but we must also be prepared in the scriptures to “instruct many”, not only in the tribulation but even now. We need to show others how to show others how the signs that confirm certainty can be recognized with certainty.

In short, God doesn’t waste ink! These things were revealed to be unsealed in their appointed time, that the one who reads may run (Dan 12:3 with Hab 2:2-3).

There may be much that remains unclear, but sufficient clarity is given that many of the false alarms of prophetic speculation can be safely ruled out as incongruent with the scripture.

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Prov 13:12). Great confusion threatens where these distinctions are not taken into account and carefully considered.

In His precious service, Reggie

As never before, the whole flow of history is moving exactly in the direction that the plain person’s plain reading of prophecy would have led them to expect. God Himself has made the issue of Israel and the so-called, “Jewish question” a watershed of international division.

Just imagine trying to explain the irrevocable election of Israel, based on grace alone, to a generation that is being fast pre-conditioned, almost overnight, to despise the very suggestion of such an unthinkable notion. Talk about a calculated offense!

So yes, how we see the times we’re in does indeed come down to a question of one’s hermeneutics, but also to a question of the heart.

The pragmatic pastor will want to ask, how is this relevant to the gospel? If a pure gospel is well established in the heart, isn’t that enough? Shouldn’t such details of prophetic speculation be left to the mystery that God intended, nice to know but not critical, since the sheep will surely make it through, come what may?

Indeed, the gospel and the saving righteousness of Christ is centermost. But this center has a Divinely chosen context that must not be neglected, not only for our benefit, but much more importantly, for the glory that God has invested in His foretold plan, precious to savor at all times, but particularly now, as chaos and deception is about to explode on a scale eclipsing anything ever witnessed before.

We must remember that the NT revelation of the mystery of the gospel is built around Christ’s coming, departure, and return to Israel, specifically the Mount of Olives from whence He ascended. He must return to the place where He was crucified under the placard that said, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”

Why end the age just there, in that physical locality? Why has God constructed the end of the age around an ancient land dispute that is divinely calculated to plunge the nations into an insoluble crisis from which none will be able to extricate themselves? (Zech 12:2-3). Why would God bind together the issue of the mystery of the gospel with the mystery of Israel?

I would submit that part of the answer regards His deliberate intention that both comings would be surrounded by an element of mystery, designed to elude the pride of self-reliance (Mt 11:25-26), just as Paul warns in Ro 11:25. Just as the mystery of Christ’s twofold coming so deeply searched and tested Jewish hearts, just so, the mystery of Israel is designed to test and sift the hearts of the nations, even gentile believers.

But there is one important difference: The mystery of Christ’s cross and twofold coming was not only hidden from Peter and the disciples (Mt 16:22; Lk 18:34); it was hidden even from the angelic powers (1Cor 2:7-8). Not so the mystery surrounding the Lord’s return.

Those well marked days will only come “as a thief” upon the unregenerate church and the unbelieving world, but not upon the faithful children of the light (1Thes 5:4). We know this because Daniel’s prophecy is clear that the vision will be unsealed and known to the wise (maskilim) at the time of the end. They will be doing great exploits, instructing many, and turning many to righteousness, even a countless number will be saved out of, “the tribulation, the great one” (Rev 7:14; noting the significant double use of the definite article).

But the larger answer to the question has all to do with the completion of an ancient covenant promise. It is the age-ending climax of the “everlasting covenant” that forms the framework of the future. In the larger context of God’s eternal purpose in Christ, this is what defines how and why the age ends just as the prophecy of both testaments so fully describes.

Towards the goal of seeing the big picture, I believe the Lord Jesus Himself has given us the key to establish what I like to call a “plumbline of simplicity” that will align and pull many of the strands together into a coherent clarity. The object will not only be to know what is most important to know, but how best to show others how to make the case from scripture without getting bogged down in details, in a way that will equip others to equip others.

If observed, I believe God has given us an amazing, and now especially timely, provision to equip the body, not only to escape the manifold forms of end-time deception, but to have the Lord’s own, personally commended key of interpretation that will enable them to “instruct many” and “turn many” to righteousness” (Dan 11:32-33; 12:3, 10).

I would like to expand a little on how Daniel aligns and sets in order, not only the end-time events, but also the whole covenantal framework of the judgments and promises, as traced from Gen 3:15 to the final perfection of the last two chapters of Revelation.

Daniel is the key to organizing the whole of scripture around the main themes of kingdom, covenant, and mystery. But it is Jesus’ Olivet prophecy in particular, and the emphasis He puts on one centermost event, that becomes the key that opens not only Daniel, but also sets all the prophecies spoken concerning the coming day of the Lord in clearest covenant context.

Referencing and building upon Moses and the earlier prophets, Daniel gives us not only the timeline and the order of events related to both comings, but he also reminds us of the covenant curses that must continue until Israel’s everlasting deliverance and final security in the Land, all in glorious analogy to the story of Joseph and his brothers (compare Mic 5:3-4, with Zech 12:10).

Rightly instructed believers will weep with those who weep, not only in their bitter distress, but in the glory that will break upon the beleaguered survivors of Israel when they will look upon Him whom they pierced and say with one voice, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Mt 23:39).

In this way, we can begin to see God’s mind and purpose behind the great judgments and the unrestrained evils that would be otherwise inexplicable, and the occasion for the greatest offense to the natural mind.

But back to my point:

In my experience I found that when I chose to take very seriously Jesus’ command to read and understand Daniel’s prophecy concerning the abomination of desolation, I was challenged when I saw that this light did not come to him until he first, “set his heart to understand”. Looking to understand this particular event and its full significance, I would be astonished at just how much more this simple obedience would open to discovery in pulling the great strands of biblical themes together. Jesus well knew what simple compliance to His wise directive to pay attention to Daniel would set in motion.

Not only did I discover the event, and the events that follow throughout the second half of the week, I discovered a number of events that would mark and distinguish the first half. What a priceless advantage this first half of the week will provide the body for their readiness for the second half. We will see it coming!

But more than all of this, Daniel became the key to what I like to call, “the glory of the story”. This is because Daniel, like no other book, reaches all the way back to Israel’s beginnings and outlines the whole sweep of Israel’s history of crisis and covenant discipline, reaching to its glorious resolution in the kingdom that has come on earth as it is in heaven.

It is important to note that the abomination of desolation is the very event that Paul was careful to elaborate during his short, three-week stay with the Thessalonians. This should underscore the importance he attached to Jesus’ Olivet prophecy and His emphasis on Daniel’s order of events.

We know this because when the false alarm arose that Christ’s return was immediately imminent, he corrected the error by appealing to what he had gone over with them on his earlier visit. “Do you not remember that when I was yet with you, I told you these things?” (2Thes 2:5).

Paul speaks of a coming man who is yet to be revealed. He will be possessed of “all power”, capable of signs, wonders, and cunning deception. He will enter the temple of God in Jerusalem (Mt 24:15-16), and there, exalt himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped (2Thes 2:4). But there are some dots we need to connect.

Jesus doesn’t mention the man, but only this event and its location (“Judea”). But both Paul and Jesus use language that is taken almost verbatim from Daniel chapter 11, where both the man and the event are described within four verses of each other (see Dan 11:31-37). So the scripture itself shows us how the dots should be connected.

Manifestly, Paul did not regard knowledge of the basic order of endtime events as a matter of no serious concern. Notice Paul’s urgent tone when he echoes the Lord’s similar grave warnings concerning the peril of deception on this very matter. “Let no man deceive you by any means!”

You can almost hear the exclamation point.

That sounds like the beginning of Jesus’ opening answer to His disciple’s question, “What shall be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?” Significantly, Jesus’ first words were, “take heed that no man deceive you”, again, the exclamation point. No other theme is so repeatedly reinforced throughout His prophetic discourse.

Paul’s response to the error concerning the order of events preceding the Lord’s return implies that something far more serious was being threatened than to merely prompt the slackers and busybodies to return to their ‘day jobs’ and occupy till He comes, as some commentators seem content to assume. Rather, Paul is seeing where this error can lead in light of the confusion that Jesus warned would reign, particularly over thie time and manner of His return (Mt 24:23-31).

The abomination of desolation is THE prophetic key to the believer’s preparation to instruct many of the meaning, not only of the events of those days, but the great issue of the promise of an “everlasting righteousness” that is the Lord’s own righteousness, available to believers now, but promised to come to all the penitent survivors of Israel in that great day (Isa 45:17, 24-25; 54:17, Jer 23:5-6; Dan 9:24). This is the glorious free gift that gives hope and meaning and comfort, even in the face of the staggering evil, deception, and suffering of those days, like the shattering event we so recently witnessed on Oct 7, a tragic foretaste of Zech 14:2.

But clarity concerning this decisive event achieves much more than might first appear. The abomination of desolation cannot happen in a vacuum. It must be preceded by certain definite, traceable events and preconditions.

For one thing, before a sacrifice can be removed it must exist. If it does not now exist, it must start. But before it can start, a long-standing stalemate must yield to a radical change in the current status quo. For these kinds of necessary preliminary conditions to come about, we may expect seismic changes to come to the region, sufficient to move nations from their former intransigence to make unprecedented concessions for peace.

The logic is clear. In order for the Jews to have sufficient access to the forbidden Temple Mount, some kind of political peace arrangement, however presently remote, seems necessarily implied, and indeed foretold in scripture (compare Isa 28:15, 18; Eze 38:8, 11, 14; 39:26; Dan 9:27; 11:21, 23-24, 31; Mt 24:15-16; 1Thes 5:3). You see then how those who will have obeyed the Lord’s command to search out and understand this particular event foretold by Daniel, will also be able to recognize at least some of the preceding events that signal its approach.

This is where an understanding of Daniel’s 70th week will prove invaluable for the church’s readiness. For this, we must see God’s investment in the first half of the week as a divine strategy to prepare the church for the second half. But for this, we must see that the 70th week did not follow the 69th week in unbroken succession.

I will give only the briefest possible argument why the 70th week must be seen as future. The basic, highly condensed argument is this:

Dan 12:1-2, 7, 11, particularly vers 11, will show beyond reasonable dispute that the abomination of desolation, with the simultaneous removal of the daily sacrifice, starts the last 3 ½ years (the half week of Dan 7:25; 9:27; 12:7; Rev 11:2-3; 12:6, 14; 13:5). It is the ‘time like no other’, also called, “great tribulation” and “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer 30:7; Dan 12:1; Mt 24:21: Rev 7:14).

Observe that this last and greatest tribulation on earth ends with nothing short of the final deliverance of Daniel’s people and the resurrection of the righteous dead, including Daniel’s personal resurrection (Dan 12:1-2, 13). Thus, it is not far to see that this is the event that divides the final week in two equal halves in Dan 9:27.

So far as it is agreed that the 69th week terminates at the cross of Christ (i.e., Messiah “cut off”; Dan 9:26 with Isa 53:8), nothing within the range of the seven years following the cross arrived at the kind of “end” / “consummation” as described in Daniel, most particularly Dan 12:1-2. Advocates of the unbroken continuity of the 70 sevens are hard pressed to identify what events within that time frame can be said to fulfill the goals reached at the end of final the 3 ½ years, most specifically and undeniably the deliverance of Daniel’s people (Jews / “natural branches”) and the resurrection of the righteous (Dan 12:1-2, 7, 11).

Therefore, to speak of an unbroken continuity between the 69th and 70th weeks is highly anticlimactic, to say the least. Such would be a complete short-fall of the end goals, not only of Dan 9:24, but of Daniel’s apocalyptic visions in general, all of which were aimed at the final and eternal end of exile and the coming in of the post-tribulational kingdom of God on earth at the end of the last persecution.

Time forbids an account of the genius and logic of all six goals of the seventy sevens (Dan 9:24) and the mystery of the interim that divides the 70th seven from the former 69 weeks of years, but for now, our purpose must be limited to underscore how invaluable this knowledge will be in preparing the church, now, but even more especially in the first half of the week for what it must be to Israel and the nations in the second half that ends in Christ’s post-tribulational return at the Day of the Lord.

This strategic advantage threatens to be lost to the church’s benefit unless we are able to identify the distinguishing markers that show we have entered into the first half of the week. I offer this brief quote from G. H. Lang (beloved mentor of F. F. Bruce) from his, “The Histories and Prophecies of Daniel”:

“When this agreement shall have been confirmed, the wise will know that the final seven years has commenced, that the end days are present, that the consummation of the age has arrived. They will expect the violation of the covenant after three years and a half, and will not be overwhelmed with surprise, having been told beforehand by this prophecy. Then will it be seen in fullness that the knowledge of prophetic scripture is simply priceless.”

I conclude with this appeal: Certainly every inch of ground in the confusing smorgasbord of eschatological options is hard fought and hard won, but there are keys of simplicity that make a plain path through the maze. One of those keys I have mentioned, but just how best to use that key to equip the church belongs to another discussion.

But regardless, whether you believe the preterist position that the abomination and the great tribulation is past already, or the classic dispensational view that the Olivet prophecy is to be seen as “Jewish ground”, not directly applicable to the church that is expected to be gone during this time. In any event, I soberly appeal to you to at least treat the grave warnings of deception and the antidote that Jesus prescribes with at least a ‘just in case’ sense of responsibility for the sake of your flocks.

If Jesus put such stress on the relationship of this event to offset some of the prevailing deceptions of “those days”, such as the present massive upsurge of antisemitism, just reflect on how regrettable it would be if you had failed to prepare those under your care with at least the means to recognize these things if you might just happen to be sincerely mistaken.

All’s to say, a careful knowledge of Daniel’s prophecy of the end is a pain well worth taking. It is only as we are instructed that we will be in a position to instruct (Dan 11:33; 12:3).

If Paul can rightly call the living church of the living God “the pillar and ground of truth” (1Tim 3:15), it would seem inconceivable that the last witness of the gospel to Israel and the nations would be made in its absence. If we take the view that to be alive “in Christ”, whether before, during, or after the tribulation, is necessarily to be part of His body, then it follows that “the voice of the bridegroom AND of the bride” (Rev 18:23) will be heard far and wide during a final witness, sealed in the blood of the tribulation martyrs (compare Dan 7:21; 11:35; 12:10; Mt 24:14; Rev 6:10-11; 12:11; 13:7, 15; 14:6; 20:4).

Where in Scripture is it revealed that we should expect an indefinite time gap between weeks 69 and 70?
This cannot be obtained from a straightforward reading of the text.

The gap is what can be called a necessary inference. As with many great truths of scripture, it is not based on one single, obvious text but the cumulative evidence of many verses, scattered here and there, forming a mystery that must be searched out.

What is clear and, as you say, “straightforward”, is that scripture puts the last half of Daniel’s 70th week as arriving at “the consummation / the end”. This end of the age, reaching to the end of the final tribulation, the destruction of the “beast” (Dan 7:11) / “little horn” (Dan 7:8: 8:9) / “vile person” (Dan 11:21) / “wilful king” (Dan 11:36), the deliverance of Daniel’s people, and the resurrection of the righteous dead (Dan 12:1-2) is the same “end” so prominently in view throughout the book of Daniel. There is great, I would say decisive evidence that the final 3 ½ years of this age is the last half of Daniel’s 70th week.

This final 3 1/2 years (the half week) of unequaled tribulation clearly begins with the taking away of the daily sacrifice. This removal of the sacrifice is coupled with the placing of the abomination of desolation by the Man of Lawlessness in the temple of God in Judea (This is seen by a careful comparison of Dan 9:27; 11:31, 36-37; 12:11; with Mt 24:15-16, 21; 2Thes 2:3-4).

This question becomes of supreme importance when we see that in Mt 24:15 Jesus instructs His disciples to read about this particular event in Daniel’s prophecy and to be careful to “understand” it. This is important because this is the specific sign that starts the great tribulation that ends in His return.

The decisive question then becomes: which of the two princes distinguished in Dan 9:25-26 stops the sacrifice in the middle of the week in Dan 9:27? If it is said to be Jesus stopping the sacrifice by the shedding of His blood, this argues for a spiritual cessation, since the sacrifice was not literally stopped but continued for some 37 more years until Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus. Also, Jesus did not confirm any covenant for only 7 years. And what kind of “end” was reached 3 1/2 years after the sacrifice was stopped?

Notice that in every other place in Daniel where the sacrifice is mentioned, it is always the wicked, self-exalting “little horn” / “vile person” / wilful king that takes it away (Dan 8:11; 11:31; 12:11). So, if Dan 9:27 is NOT the AC who starts the final 3.5 years of great tribulation (cf., Dan 12:1; Mt 24:21), then Dan 9:27 becomes a curious exception.

This would be to suppose that the sacrifice that is stopped 3.5 years before the end in Dan 9:27 is NOT the same sacrifice that is taken away 3.5 years before an entirely different “end” in Dan 12:1-2, 7, 11-13. In such a case, it becomes an entirely different and separate event in both time and circumstance, accomplished by different persons, and bringing about a different “end” that is not the same as the “end” mentioned in every other reference throughout the book.

If, on the other hand, the last half of the week begins WHEN the self exalting “prince that shall come” of Dan 9:26 stops the sacrifice and places the abomination (the event that brings on the final desolation of Jerusalem), then it follows that just as the 7 weeks, followed by the subsequent 62 weeks bring us to the cross (Messiah “cut off”; Dan 9:26 with Isa 53:8); in the same way, the 70th week is reserved to bring in the final seven years to fulfill the mystery of lawlessness in the revelation of the man of lawlessness, the event that Paul puts as necessarily preceding Christ’s return to gather together His elect (compare Mt 24:31 with 2Thes 2:1-4, 7-8).

So if the one who stops the sacrifice is indeed the prince that shall come of Dan 9:26 (the one who brings on the final desolation of Jerusalem), then this is indeed the second half of the week that ends with the destruction of the “desolator” at Christ’s return (Dan 7:11; 9:27; 2Thes 2:8). And since the one who stops the sacrifice is the same who confirms the covenant, it follows that as surely as the career of the AC does not immediately follow the 69th week, so surely the 70th week must be future.

Lastly, some of the goals that are reached by the 70 weeks concern Jerusalem and Daniel’s people in particular. Some of these were certainly NOT fulfilled seven years after the cross. The full balance of the six goals will, however, be gloriously fulfilled for the languishing Jews (“natural branches”) when the Deliverer comes (roars) out of Zion to turn away ungodliness from Jacob (Joel 3:16; Isa 59:20-21; Ro 11:26).

If this all sounds strange on first hearing, be patient, and pray for light and the Spirit to be your teacher, remembering too that the book of Daniel contains mysteries that were intended to remain closed up and “sealed” till the “time of the end”. These sealed mysteries are not automatic to Bible reading. They are precious, divinely guarded secrets designed to be revealed to babes while at the same time eluding human self reliance. They are grace given.

Proverbs 25:2
It is the glory of God to conceal a thing:
but the honor of kings is to search out a matter.

There is so much more connected to this question. I wrote a little piece called, “The Glory of the Gap” where I give many examples throughout scripture where prophecies blend and combine events that prove in hindsight to be fulfilled at great distances apart. You’ll also recall that many messianic prophecies combined events that would be fulfilled at both His first and second comings.

Until the surprise discovery that the Messiah would come twice (Acts 3:18-21; 26:22-23), the gap would remain a mystery, even to the prophets, until the part that was fulfilled at Christ first coming opened to view the part that awaited His return. All would come to full, glorious light when the Spirit “sent down from heaven” would reveal the glory of the “the mystery of the gospel,” as fully foretold in the prophetic writings, but kept till the appointed time of revelation (Ro 16:25-26; 1Cor 2:7-8; Eph 6:19 with 1Pet 1:1-12).

Yours in the Beloved, Reggie

“It is clear the nameless one (described in Dan 10:4-11:1) is the Lord Jesus given clear unity with Revelation 1. How do you understand His being delayed and receiving help from Michael to release the word?”

Even among those commentators who see verses 5-9 as depicting a pre-incarnate appearing of Christ, most will argue that beginning at verse 10, another figure has come into view. The proposed change from Christ to an angel is assumed only because it is thought to be inconceivable that the pre-incarnate Son could need angelic assistance to push past the resistance of the demon Prince of Persia to complete his errand to Daniel (Dan 10:13).

[And what a strategic errand it was! It was to be an exceptionally long, uninterrupted (two chapters), unparalleled, narrative style prophecy that would lay out in astonishing detail “what shall befall your (Daniel’s) people in the latter days.” No wonder the demonic realm was so invested to impede the messenger’s mission. It is important to note what this mighty, history-determining breakthrough of divine revelation cost Daniel, as well as the place that sovereign providence had brought him in preparation for it.]

Yet, does the view that an angel has stepped in in place of the glorious Christ really solve our problem? It still leaves the question, why would the holy angels, sent by God, ever be successfully detained? Wouldn’t it be expected that the only assistance they would need to fulfill their mission would be amply supplied by God Himself? What then is this mystery of demonic resistance? What is its purpose in the great scheme of God’s eternal purpose? Why the struggle?

Could it be that God desires a concerted effort of participation by those who are partakers of His divine nature in a relationship of union? I like the following explanation by commentator, Gleason Archer:

“While God can, of course, override the united resistance of all the forces of hell if he chooses to do so, he accords to demons certain limited powers of obstruction and rebellion somewhat like those he allows humans. In both cases the exercise of free will in opposition to the Lord of heaven is permitted by him when he sees fit. But as Job 1:12 and 2:6 indicate, the malignity of Satan is never allowed to go beyond the due limit set by God, who will not allow the believer to be tested beyond his limit (1 Cor 10:13).”

More than this, why has God made believing prayer so much the issue in His fluctuating war with the fallen powers of this age? Apparently, the holy angels receive their strength over the demon princes of this age according to this rule: when the flesh is weak and its power broken, when the heart is tender and contrite, the veil of the flesh gives way to life, light, and revelation. Where this deep breaking has occurred, there is a corresponding release of the Spirit that grants great access and mountain moving power in prayer.

This is the secret that gives prayer its power. It is the issue of the veil. The strength of the veil to hide and blind is through the strength of carnal self reliance. When the power of the flesh is broken, the veil gives way to transforming revelation of the liberating light of the gospel (Deut 32:36; Dan 12:7; 2Cor 3:14-18; 4:4, with Isa 25:7).

Therefore, my answer would be, the demonic resistance, like the mystery of lawlessness itself, exists for the glory of grace. As Paul says, we have been brought into the fellowship of a hidden mystery, namely, that through the church (composed of necessarily weak, the frail jars of clay), the manifold wisdom of God is being demonstrated, even to the principalities and powers. This is all “according to His eternal purpose” (Eph 3:9-11).

The design in this conflict comprehends the whole story of God’s foretold work. Manifestly, He hasn’t merely permitted the resistance, He has ordained it as indispensable to an eternal purpose that had no beginning in time. In this light, it is not inconceivable that Christ should choose to require angelic assistance, particularly if Michael’s arrival was inseparably related to Daniel’s self abasement and prayer.

Not only here in Dan 10:13-21, but all of history proceeds from a pre-ordained purpose to permit a demonic resistance under Satan to hinder and oppose the coming of the kingdom on earth (compare Dan 10:13, 20; Rev 12:10). These are the opposing angelic powers that stand over and behind the great usurping kingdoms of man.

So the resistance was perfectly ordained from the beginning to serve the greater plan of God, since in no other way could His eternal purpose in Christ be realized (see Ro 8:19-21). By the same pre-creation decision, God has predetermined the bounds of this resistance (“who says to the proud waves, this far and no further”).

This is why we see the threefold seven (21 days). It is also why we see such language as “the set time to favor Zion” (Ps 102:13), with many such predetermined time indicators, (e.g., “time appointed” (Dan 11:27); “seventy weeks are determined” (Dan 9:24); “that which is determined shall be done” (Dan 11:36) and many more.

Yet, none of this takes place apart from the equally preordained, indispensable means of grace, chiefly, in this case, as in so many since, “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man.”

We may be sure that nothing of the end time victory of the church over the beast, and the witness by which gentile believers will make Israel jealous, will happen apart from this supreme grace of prevailing prayer.

This brings to mind what I see as a principal divine use of the first half of Daniel’s 70th week. I call it the “straightening (or constraining) of the church”. This is when the well defined signs of the first half of the week mark the near approach of the tribulation, which begins with the removal of the regular sacrifice and the placing of the abomination in the temple in Jerusalem (Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11; Mt 25:15-16; 2Thes 2:4; Rev 11:2).

The signs that confirm the final week has begun are divinely calculated to move the living members of Christ’s body to a deeper place of corporate intercession.

Through deep self-abasement and a Daniel-like depth of spiritual travail (Gal 4:19), not only will the church come to the promised maturity (Eph 4:13), but the mighty Michael will again be sent, this time to fully and finally expel Satan himself (not merely one of his ‘princes’) from his present position of hindrance in heaven. This happens significantly in the middle of the week at the threshold of the final persecution.

With Michael’s middle of the week expulsion of Satan (Dan 12:1; Rev 12:7-14), the mystery of lawlessness can be revealed in the full empowerment (we believe incarnation) of the man of lawlessness (2Thes 2:7-9). It is this great event in heaven that intersects with the key, signal event on earth (the abomination of desolation) that sets the last 3 1/2 years in motion (the half week of Dan 7:25; 9:27; 12:7, 11; Rev 11:2-3; 12:6, 14; 13:5). This great transition in heaven and earth must first take place before the the “mystery of God” can be “finished” with Christ’s return at the 7th trumpet (2Thes 2:3-8; Rev 10:7; 11:15; 12:10)

Seeing then that these things must be fulfilled before Christ’s can come, how urgent must the church become with strong cries that the necessary events fall soon into place, so that Satan might be dislodged from his position in heaven as the one who hinders? (compare Dan 10:13 with 1Thes 2:18; 2Thes 2:7; Rev 12:7:14). Perhaps we will not see this degree of intensity until the door of the final seven has closed fast behind us, but the evidence is strong that we will see it.

When the church will travail, Michael will prevail! That is to say, a considerable body of evidence from the scripture leads us to expect a convergence of God’s set time with a Daniel-like depth of holy travail of intercession. When this corporate cry comes up before God, Michael will prevail to cast down Satan. This makes possible the revelation of the mystery of lawlessness in the man of lawlessness that brings the overarching mystery of God to its predestined conclusion (2Thes 2:3-4; Rev 10:7).

This certainty of well marked, well defined events that establish the certainty of the time will prove a priceless provision for the preparation of the church and the release of kingdom power and authority that God has invested in “those days” of greatest transition from this age to the next (Dan 12:1; Mt 24:19, 21-22, 29)

By these clearly foretold events, the “wise” who “understand” (Heb. “maskilim”, simply the godly remnant) will be able to instruct many and turn many to righteousness (Dan 11:33, 12:3, 10; Rev 7:9, 13-14). From what we can observe by a careful comparison of parallel scriptures, the great transition that takes place in heaven to start the final tribulation will also result, not only in the revelation of the mystery of lawlessness, but also, on the side of light and truth, a mighty, Pentecost-like outpouring of power and strength (Rev 12:10) that will come upon, not only the two witnesses, but also the ‘maskilim’ (defined as the forerunner remnant appointed to teach and evangelize; Dan 11:33; 12:3, 10).

This can be seen by observing that the scripture reports a mighty power to do exploits coming upon the maskilim. This is significantly reported immediately after the placing of the abomination of desolation has been placed in Dan 11:31. Noting what we have seen about the great transition that removes the accuser from his long held access to heaven, and noting that the two witnesses receive power at this time (see below note), is it not significant that just now, with the placing of the abomination, the scripture announces the power of the maskilim to perform exploits amidst the final martyrdom? (Dan 11:32-35).

… the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits … (Dan 11:32 NKJV)

[Note: That the ministry of the two prophets occupies the second half of the week is shown by observing that their death and ascension happens in connection with the 6th trumpet, which is also the 2nd woe. This is very “shortly” prior to Jesus’ return at the 7th trumpet, which is also the 3rd woe (compare Rev 8:13-9:1, 12-13; 11:11-15).]

Note too, it is just after Michael has cast Satan down that Satan begins his “short time” of rampage upon the “earth dwellers” (Rev 12:10-12). Again, it seems most significant that just here, we are told of the triumph of the saints.

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto death” (Rev 12:10).

Is it too far to infer that this glad boast of spiritual triumph (unparalleled?) is shown to immediately follow upon the removal of the accuser of the brethren (2Thes 2:7; Rev 12:10)? Surely this intends to indicate that something without equal or precedent has only now taken place in heaven that has completely and forever removed Satan, not only from his position of hindrance to the arrival of the kingdom by holding back the necessarily preliminary “mystery of lawlessness” (2Thes 2:7; Rev 12:10); he is also denied access to the now fully liberated consciences of sealed and fully secure believers.

He no longer has access to challenge or question the identity of the living members of Christ. Of course, this reality is available now to what the writer of Hebrews calls, “the full assurance of faith”, but here, this liberty of triumphant assurance and gospel clarity of conscience is being realized on, I would suggest, an unprecedented corporate scale as essential establishment in grace for the last battle. All’s to say, there has been a mighty, truly unprecedented breakthrough in the heavenlies, and this will have its outworking in the power that comes upon the saints who have been deeply processed by the events of the first half of the week.

This is not a metaphor for the entire inter-advent period, as some teach. It may indeed be a reiteration of the historical pattern of Christ’s victory over the Dragon, but this is clearly future, at the threshold of the final, very short tribulation. It particularly concerns Michael’s pre-tribulation victory over Satan, as foretold in Dan 12:1 and Rev 12:7-9). From this point on, in some unprecedented way, what Satan could do before, he can do no longer.

What will such a victory in heaven mean for the saints on earth when Satan will no longer have any more access to heaven to accuse them? That this has not yet come, even for such a saintly saint as Job is shown in Job 1:6, 9-12. The same removal of the accuser is foreshadowed in the case of Joshua, the high priest? (Zech 3:1), and will be even more fully enforced to the penitent survivors of the last tribulation when “… I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.. (Zech 3:9 with Isa 66:8; Eze 39:22; Ps 102:13).

Such freedom from the accuser’s accusations will not, of course, be anything entirely new (Jn 5:24; Ro 8:1). It does, however, seem that from this point forward, as from no other, Satan will be completely cut off and cast down from whatever access to heaven he had before Michael’s pre-tribulational victory. Could this be why the saints of this time are spoken of as sealed, beyond reach of Satan’s accusations?

It certainly raises many interesting questions that will doubtless come to greater light as the time nears (Dan 12:4, 9).

I am speaking of the “abomination of desolation”. This is the event that Jesus directs His disciples to “read and understand” (Mt 24:15). Jesus well knew that by obedience to His solemn command to identify and understand this event, it would become possible for His sheep to recognize a number of other preliminary signs that must precede and lead up to the abomination of desolation (Mt 24:15 with Dan 8:11-14; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11).

It is these well defined events, one that is particularly unmistakable, that will alert, awaken, and mobilize the saints for their finest hour of witness and triumph over Satan and the man of lawlessness. There is a divine strategy that God has invested in making the approximate time of His coming unmistakably clear to His saints when these key, preliminary signs will be in clear, unmistakable fulfillment.

But I don’t want to begin my answer by simply laying out the order of events leading to Christ’s return. We have done that often elsewhere. Instead, I want to point out the interpretive key that is essential to support and defend our view of the end from all other competing interpretations, both now and across the annals of church history.

It is crucial that this be in the hands and understanding of God’s people for the sake of the many that will be called upon to give an answer, as we expect that the manifest fulfillment of the prophecies on the open stage of history will prove the greatest evangelistic tool since the days of the early church (Dan 11:32-33; 12:3; Rev 7:9, 13-14).

This critical key of interpretation is found in the most unexpected place. By God’s design, the event that so clearly and indisputably holds all else in proper alignment is also the most misunderstood and commonly dismissed. I speak of the indispensable sign of the sacrifice.

I want to explain why this sign is such a gift to the body of Christ. It is not only an indispensable bulwark of defense against the great deception that will so profoundly test and expose the heart (Mk 13:23), but also the priceless advantage that this advance certainty will contribute towards the readiness and prophetic equipping of the coporate body of Christ for the final task of witness to Israel and the nations.

Without exception, every debacle of discrediting, disappointing false alarm can be traced to the misinterpretation or neglect of this event.

Although there are many other signs that will be visibly identifiable in advance of the tribulation, even in advance of the restored sacrificial ritual in the rebuilt sanctuary in Jerusalem, none are more unmistakable than this, and none more essential to avoid the common error of what I call, “separating the inseparable“.

Of all the signs that Jesus gives that He was careful to say are NOT a definite indication of the end (Mt 24:6, 14), He gives one sign in particular that marks the beginning of the unequaled, or “great tribulation” (Mt 24:15-16, 21). By deliberately sending His disciples to “read” and “understand” Daniel’s prophecy of this event, Jesus well knew they would be discovering a series of events that lead up to this great sign event. These events that must necessarily precede the abomination constitute what I’m calling, “the signs before the Sign“.

Jesus knew that when His command is obeyed, this key event would establish, not only what follows but what precedes. By locating the abomination, we discover other attending events that comprise a definite chronology of events leading up to this transitional event that will signal its approach well in advance of its actual arrival  (Isa 28:15, 18; Eze 38:8, 11, 14; Dan 9:27; 11:23-31; 1Thes 5:3).

The Hebrew word for those who will see the signs of the tribulation’s approach and understand their meaning are called the “maskilim”. The term means those having insight (Dan 11:32-33; 12:3, 10).  Armed with this knowledge, the maskilim of the end will rise to the occasion with mighty acts of soul winning witness that will “instruct many” (Dan 11:32-33; 12:3; Rev 7:9, 13-14).

When we obey the Lord’s directive to seek out this particular event in Daniel’s prophecy, we see that it is mentioned four times. Without exception, in every instance the abomination of desolation is immediately accompanied by the cessation of the daily sacrifice (Dan 8:11; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11). The removal of the sacrifice is manifestly part of the same event, since both take place at an equal distance, approximately 3 ½ years from the end (Dan 7:25; 9:27; 12:7, 11).

With rarest exception, since the earliest church fathers, every failed system of prophetic interpretation has this tendency to separate the removal of the sacrifice from the abomination of desolation. On this one error, they all run aground.

In order to stand, these systems of interpretation, whether amillennial, post-millennial, historicist (often subscribing to the infamous year day theory) must, necessarily, separate the removal of the regular sacrifice from the abomination of desolation. Yet, an honest exegesis will recognize that these are conjoined aspects of a single event that stand at an equal distance, approximately 3 1/2 years from the resurrection (Dan 12:1-2, 7, 11). How is this not plain to see?

Furthermore, it is typical to deny a future, literal temple. It is usually argued that the “temple of God” that the man of lawlessness enters at the end is metaphorical and not literal. But to maintain this, Paul’s reference to the temple in 2Thess 2:4 and the self exalting man of lawlessness must be disconnected from the abomination of desolation and the stopping of the continual sacrifice and located somewhere else along the biblical timeline.

But can the sacrifice be separated from the abomination that makes desolate? And can this event be separated from a literal “holy place” in Jerusalem? (Mt 24:15). And what of Paul’s nearly verbatim citation of Dan 11:36-37 to describe the man who exalts himself in the temple in 2Thes 2:4?

How can this future person who is destroyed by the Lord’s coming (2Thes 2:8) be separated from the event that Daniel mentions only five verses earlier? (Dan 11:31). Moreover, Dan 9:27; 12:1-2, 7, 11-13 will show decisively that the sacrifice is removed approximately 3 1/2 years before the final deliverance of Daniel’s people and the resurrection of the righteous. These inextricably related events cannot be separated and dislocated except by resorting to an elaborate system of side-stepping, which must deny or spiritualize the otherwise obvious.

What then should be the plain person’s reading of the plain language of the text? Regardless what other mysteries await the time of the end, one thing would have been clear to Daniel’s first readers: that is the manifest inseparability of the abomination of desolation from the removal of the daily sacrifice in the temple of God at Jerusalem. This is so important, because if this event can be established as impossible to separate exegetically, then God has graciously given us an unmistakable sign that will alert His saints of the approach of the tribulation in precious strategic advance of the outbreak of the final tribulation.

Note that this sacrifice and its removal is very distinguishable from any other similar event in history. According to Isa 63:18; 64:10-11, the tribulation temple that is appointed to destruction at the time of the end is one that has been only recently recovered to Jewish possession. Nothing in history answers to this description. In every other instance where the continual burnt offering has been stopped, it had been ongoing for centuries without interruption, whether in the case of Nebuchadnezzar, Antiochus IV (Epiphanes), or Titus.

This is without historical precedent. And if the holy place has stood only “a little while”, it follows that the sacrifice that will be stopped in the middle of the week has only recently been restarted. This is momentous! This kind of clarity and certainty will be a priceless mercy, not only to guard His saints against deception, but to unify, equip, and prepare them for the final thrust of gospel witness to Israel and the nations, with the sure and certain promise of an unparalleled harvest of souls as their reward (Dan 11:32-33; 12:3; Mt 24:14; Rev 7:9, 13-14; 14:6).

This brings me to my next point. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the “strong delusion” that God Himself has decreed to send on those who will not receive the love of the truth (2Thes 2:9). What?! God sending a strong delusion?! This signals to us that a very provocative red line has already been crossed by much of the world’s population. I began to think about what this implies for the events leading up to this moment of the great divide.

I thought of the principle implicit in Jesus’ warning to the rulers of Jerusalem, “If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father (Jn 15:21). In the same way, we know that God would never send such a fatal strong delusion unless the world had not first been powerfully exposed to very compelling evidence (conspicuous prophetic signs), leaving them completely and totally without excuse.

The glorious upside of this dread reality for the persistently defiant is the blessed contemplation of what success and wide reach the message of warning and promise must have, even before the outbreak of the final tribulation. You see the logic.

Then there is the question of what will start the final week. Again, interpreters seem most always to separate the inseparable. Even among the few that recognize a future removal of the sacrifice in Dan 9:27; 12:11 3 ½ years before the end, most very wrongly regard the sacrifice in Dan 8:11; 11:31 as fulfilled entirely by Antiochus IV in the second century B.C.

Not only is this poor exegesis, it is a great loss, because there is great advantage to the saints in expecting a future fulfilment of the 2300 day prophecy, and especially the events of Dan 11:21-35, which are usually assigned to antiquity. This is to rob the body of Christ of a powerfully strategic checklist of future events that start with the “alliance” of Dan 11:23, and follow in perfect chronological order on to the abomination of desolation in verse 31.

Antiochus was indeed an invaluable type and pattern of the coming prince (Dan 7:8; 8:9; 9:26; 11:21, 36), but there are many important details that he did not fulfill, which conservative scholars seem to try to ‘force fit’ in order to defend the miraculous fulfillment of prophecy, while neglecting numerous particulars that call for a much more complete fulfillment in the future.

That is another rather involved debate, but suffice to say,  we understand that the covenant that Dan 9:27 has in view is the “holy covenant” of Dan 11:28, 30, and that this covenant is not “made”, but “confirmed” (in the sense of strengthened, or caused to prevail). If this is true, the implications are massive. This covenant obviously is a recognition and endorsement of a renewed temple service, since this is precisely what is being called, “the holy covenant”.

This also proves beyond dispute that, even while those who preside over the service of the temple remain unregenerate, as often is the case throughout much of biblical history, still, the commanded institutions, and their assigned location are regarded as holy by God (Mt 24:15; 2Thes 2:4 with Jn 2:16-17), just as Jerusalem under judgement is no less, “the holy city” (Rev 11:2). For this reason, Jerusalem and the temple are special targets of the Antichrist’s intense hatred for the “holy covenant” (Dan 11:28, 30).

By implication, the covenant that the Antichrist confirms is not just another peace arrangement, but a formal recognition and ostensible support for Jewish access to their historic institutions of temple and sacrifice. Furthermore, it presents the most amazing paradox, namely, that the most unholy human in history is giving visible consent and support to something that God and the Jewish people regard as holy. What paradox of circumstance could ever bring such a thing about?

There are many theories, some more viable than others. I have my own tentative view, but how it comes about is not so critical as knowing how to distinguish and identify the event when it happens. But there is delicacy here and we must be careful about a natural tendency to over presume how this will come about.

When we know the nature of the covenant that is being confirmed (“the holy covenant” of Dan 11:28, 30), even if the Antichrist is not clearly distinguishable from the “many” who may participate in endorsing the covenant, it will still be possible to know that the seven years have begun, since it will be known that the sacrifice is soon to start. Then, soon “after the league made with him”, he will proceed to fulfill the things written of him in Dan 11:21-31.

As mentioned, for a futurist interpretation that is not satisfied with the partial, pre-typical fulfillment by Antiochus IV of the second century B.C., verses 21-30 gives us the first half of the week in an orderly chronological sequence from the “alliance made with him” (verse 23) to the abomination of desolation in 11:31. Verses 31-45 is the second half of the week that ends in nothing short of the deliverance of Israel and the resurrection (Dan 12:1-2, 7, 11).

That said, provided we can be settled that the events of Dan 11:23-30 are yet future, the believer will be able to observe his actions during the first half of the week. Immediately
“after the league made with him …”, Dan 11:23-30 reveals a clear chronological order of events that describe in great detail his strategic military movements and conquests leading up to the point where he places the abomination of desolation (Dan 11:31; 12:11). This begins the last half of the week that is chronicled from verse 31-45. Dan 12:1-13 is a recap of Dan 11:31-45 (compare also Rev 12:7-14).

We have charted out elsewhere why we believe he is a small, very likely fledgling new power (a “little horn — becoming strong with a small people”) in the region somewhere to the north of Israel. If so, he may very well be identifiable by the time he steps forward to confirm the covenant. But is the covenant he confirms, whether by expediency or political necessity, one that already exists?

If the covenant of Dan 9:27 is rightly identified with the “holy covenant” of Dan 11:28, 30, it has certainly existed since Abraham. Will recognition of Jewish right to sacrifice and worship on the temple mount be required to secure the peace? That seems to be the best inference to be drawn from a comparison of Dan 9:27 with Dan 11:23.

Evidently, the alliance of 11:23 takes place in conjunction with his endorsement and support of the covenant of Dan 9:27. In any event, even if some of this remains to be seen, what cannot, and certainly should not, be missed is that the end cannot come apart from the reinstatement of the regular sacrifice. This will be a sign before the Sign, certainly only one of many others.

This will be public. So the saints will have every opportunity to see the tribulation coming before it arrives when these things begin to take place, and those who will not see will have no excuse in the sight of God.

And while we know that Israel will be under a false, disarming illusion of peace when their final suffering comes upon them unexpectedly (though soberly warned in advance by prophetic witnesses; see Isa 28), it is possible, and from the context of Dan 11:24, probable that some measure of peace will already be in place when he joins the alliance. We must hold fast to the text and be restrained in our presumptions.

There will be much that may surprise when the time comes but Jesus gives us the key that sends us to Daniel to learn a number of things that will be no surprise at all, because they will be unmistakable and certain. There will be signs before the sign that will be public and knowable. When Jesus says, “when you therefore will see”, He certainly expects this event to be recognized and acted upon.

It is no mystery that if a sacrifice that has not been in existence since 70 A.D. is to be taken away 3 ½ years before the end, it must first be started. As a “sign spoken against”, the return of the sacrifice is calculated to spark tremendous controversy. It will be the proverbial, “talk of the town”. It will be a paradigm shift for an unwary Christendom. At first, we may expect it to be forthrightly rejected by many mainline denominations and traditions. Yet, we may hope and trust that as things progress, more and more will have their eyes opened to consider and begin to understand the much larger picture that this implies for the imminence of Jacob’s trouble and the refinement and purification of the Bride for the day of translation. It will be a trumpet call to awaken, correct, and unify the the body of Christ for its final mission to the Jew first and also to the nations.

As Joseph received revelation of the seven before the seven, even so, we have received knowledge of the marked off and well signaled 3 ½ before the 3 ½ . If God’s people are duly prepared to show the case from scripture, this will be the opportunity for the awakening and sending of many into the harvest. It is this certainty that will move the living members of Christ’s body to a Daniel-like intercession that will receive the same help from Michael in the casting down of Satan that Daniel received in the removal of the opposing prince of Persia (see Dan 10:13; 12:1 with Rev 12:7-14).

As the heavens are cleared of Satan’s ability to hinder and oppose, very significantly, immediately after mention of the abomination of desolation in Daniel 11:31, the scripture says, “and the people that know their God shall be strong and do exploits, and they that understand among the people shall instruct many, and they that be wise shall turn many to righteousness” (Dan 11:31-33; 12:3).

It is not incidental that it is just here, at the start of the final 42 months that the two witnesses receive power (Rev 11:2-3). Satan’s expulsion has cleared heaven of his presence and while this will mean great woe for the earth dwellers, with the revelation of the mystery of lawlessness and the rage of Satan (Rev 12:12-14), it is then that the army of watchful, waiting intercessors, sensible of the signs that mark the time, will receive a mighty, unparalleled unction of “salvation, strength, the kingdom of our God and the power of His Christ” (Rev 12:10).

This is in the middle of the week (Dan 12:1, 7, 11; Rev 12:6-14). This new strength and power will be shown in their complete freedom from the fear and joyful resignation to martyrdom (“they loved not their lives unto death”; Rev 12:10). Not only has Satan been cast out, but perfect love has cast out fear.

Time forbids going into further detail, but we simply cannot begin to contemplate what seismic changes this great transition in heaven will bring for Israel, the nations, and the living church of God. From this point, Satan will no longer be able to hold back (restrain) what he fears most. His expulsion from heaven will mean his time is now short (Rev 12:12). This is because this accomplishes what Paul will call, “the mystery of lawlessness”.

Paul tells us that this revelation of the “mystery of lawlessness” in the man of lawlessness is what holds back the coming of Jesus and the kingdom (compare 2Thes 2:1-8 with Rev 12:7-14). Paul is clear, and the book of Revelation confirms, that apart from this prior event, Jesus cannot return and the mystery of God cannot be finished (2Thes 2:3-4, 7-8; Rev 10:7; 12:10-12).

So, what is the mystery of lawlessness? It is the divinely ordained antithesis to the “mystery of godliness” in the incarnation of Jesus (1Tim 3:16). It is the incarnation of Satan in the body of the second prince, “the prince that shall come” (Dan 9:25-26). He is the self exalting, sacrifice removing little horn (Dan 7:8; 8:9, 11, 9:27; 11:31-37; 12:11).

This happens when Satan is thrust down and forced to enter into the body of the mortally wounded beast. As the revived beast, he becomes “the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.” The whole world of mankind will marvel at the sight of this public miracle of unthinkable power and deception, as the beast rises with “all power, signs, and deceitful wonders” (2Thes 2:8).

This utterly demonic miracle, for which the return of Christ has waited, cannot take place “until he (Satan) is taken out of the way” (2Thes 2:7). That is until Michael forcibly removes him (Rev 12:7-14). In the middle of the week, the event happens in heaven that is answered by the sign on earth that the tribulation has started. At this point, Satan will know that “his time is short” (Rev 12:12); he will have lost his ability to restrain this long awaited mystery from being revealed. The kingdom of God come in full power on earth can no longer be hindered by divine permission.

With Satan’s perfectly timed removal from heaven in the midst of the week, the saints in heaven and earth can jubilantly declare, “now is come salvation, strength, the kingdom of our God and the power of His Christ” (Rev 12:10). That power will not only be seen on the two witnesses but we believe on a growing army army of Elijah forerunners declaring the Word under great urgency and at greatest possible cost all throughout the earth.

So if the confirmation of the covenant will be a sign, with the sacrifice apparently soon following, and if believers will be able to predict with perfect accuracy the political strategies, military movements and wars that will take place between the alliance of Dan 11:23 and the abomination of Dan 11:31, what will it mean when prophetic witnesses will be declaring that the man you see doing these things is very soon to rise from the dead and enter the temple in Jerusalem claiming to be above all other forms of deity? (Dan 11:36-37; 2Thes 2:4). Never has there been a time like this — finally decisive for multitudes in the valley of decision.

With such things in view, we may take great confidence that the wise among the sleeping will awaken and wax mighty, like the deeply-humbled Samson, who rose up to slay more in his death than in all his life. You see the principle.

In His great grace, Reggie

Yes, the ESV has some poorly translated spots here and there, but no more than most others. Except in the case of Dan 9:25 ESV, Dan 9:26 ESV. (Compare with Dan 9:25, 26 KJV) That isn’t just a poor translation; it’s bad! Yet, even there, there are arguments, coming mostly from liberal Christian and Jewish Hebrew scholars that make a case for it to be translated precisely as it is in the ESV. This translation has “given great occasion to the enemies” of the messianic interpretation.

That translation made the anti-missionaries happy, giving legitimization by Christian translators to what Jewish Hebrew scholars have been protesting all along. Of course, speaking from a strictly “technical” linguistic standpoint, it can also be JUST as legitimately translated the way KJV, NKJV, NASB, and nearly every other Christian translation in history has translated it UNTIL the ESV came along and makes this massive concession and capitulation to what Jewish scholars have been insisting all along to be the result of Christian bias, tampering with the text, giving it a forced, “unnatural” meaning. But unnatural to who?

They argue that it is the Christian who has the vested interest to “force” the text to yield a meaning that would be unnatural unless one was already predisposed to see in it one Messiah rather than two. For Jews who have no such vested interest (?), it is argued that one should see two messiahs, not Israel’s long awaited anointed Davidic ruler of ancient promise, but two priestly figures or anointed leaders, one after the first seven weeks (49 years) and another after the 62 weeks (434 years), with the latter anointed leader killed, usually by some usurper.

So what’s the tiebreaker between (some would argue) equally technical options? Well, it’s context! context! context!

But how one is inclined to see the context becomes the decisive question. Who then is willing to ask what would seem the “natural” and I think decisive question concerning the context? What is the burden of the context? Ask yourself; would Daniel be expecting an “end” (consummation) to the times of the Gentiles and Israel’s everlasting deliverance from exilic suffering, not to mention his own personal resurrection at the “END” of the final week? Would he be expecting all of this to take place WITHOUT a single reference to the appearance and death of the “curse reversing seed of the woman”, AKA the Messiah, son of David Son of God? This is what we’re asked to believe. Even the Son of Man in Dan 7 is to be interpreted simply as a metaphor for a corporate human figure symbolizing the kingdom of the saints in contrast to the beast-like kingdoms of carnal man.

Is the cutting off of the anointed prince there in Dan 9:26 just some priest that got killed by some usurper. This is the typical understanding of interpreters less “interested” to see Jesus or the Davidic Prince of Israel in this passage.

Or is this Isaiah’s suffering Servant, “cut off” (Isa 53:8) in substitutionary atonement for His people’s transgressions? Scholars just can’t figure out why this death of this particular anointed leader should just happen to fall exactly one week (7 years) before the end. But what end? The answer of liberal scholars has always been to see this as the death of Onias III and the seven years the “approximate” time of the 2300 days of Antiochus’ persecution of the Jews.

Or, is the “end” in view the “grand” end and climax of the covenant in Israel’s deliverance and the resurrection of the righteous? How about the same “end” that is mentioned all throughout the rest of the book? How about THAT end?! That’s an effective point in dialogue with Jews, Christians, and Joe unbeliever, but not pragmatic liberals. Here too, they will say, yes, this is exactly the “end” that a pseudonymous Daniel had in mind. He simply ventured a prediction that didn’t come to pass as expected.

Pseudo-Daniel’s predictive blunder permits liberal biblical criticism firm certainty that the book is to be dated circa 168 B.C. Why? Because this is where the pseudonymous author, presenting history as prophecy up to this point, now ventures to make an actual prediction concerning Antiochus’ end and the resurrection of the maskilim that simply failed to happen.

Still, somehow, such an obviously discredited “pious fraud” survived and made its way, not only into the Hebrew canon in the first century A.D., but into the library of the Essenes of the Qumran community in the second century B.C.

These were the contemporaries and successors to the history of the Maccabean struggle that saw Antiochus’ persecution as fulfillment, but also knew his end came about in a way that was completely contradictory to the end described of the the little horn / vile person of Daniel’s prophecy. And this is not even to mention that no resurrection happened, and Israel soon fell back under the power of Rome. How then does such obviously failed prophecy make it into canonical acceptance, as revered by even near contemporaries of when the liberals date the book?

You can see the assault of the powers of the air in their dread of this book’s contents and what this portends for their end. As Travis so often says, “and therein lies the problem!”

Why all the fuss and confusion? You’ll guess my usual answer, but “It’s the mystery, Watson!” Always the mystery! Closed up and sealed till the time of the end!

Not too often, but very occasionally, how we see the big picture will determine translational decisions for weal or for woe. Can we even conceive that God deliberately left us just enough rope to hang ourselves with if we are not very careful, believing that not one jot or tittle can pass without perfect, detailed fulfilment of every line of the sacred trust. This is no less true, even in the pious, most often completely sincere science / art of translation.

I believe that here too God has “hid these things from the wise and prudent”. To arrive at the truth that God Himself has hidden within the text takes a miracle of mercy. It doesn’t come naturally, and great learning is no advantage where the secrets of God are concerned.

By sovereign design, He has put these difficulties right in the text for His purposes in mercy and judgement and so none can glory. He has done just that in a few places throughout scripture, particularly where the sealed vision of eschatology is concerned.

Many fail to see beyond the partial, albeit sometimes quite remarkably parallels in history to insist on a much more precise and exhaustive fulfillment in the future at the end. Yet there are many instances of this telescoped perspective of blending the near and the far in Hebrew prophecy. We see this particularly in Dan 8 & 11 for just one example, but even somewhat in the Olivet prophecy.

This phenomenon of a double horizon in prophecy works as a kind of decoy, hiding and obscuring from the hasty scholarly mind the necessity of a more thoroughly detailed and exhaustive fulfilment at the end, repeating what took place in real pattern and principle on the near horizon, but now in much more exhaustive, fuller precision of detail at the end. Here we stand!

Someone’s been listening in class!

In the interest of brevity and people’s natural lack of stamina for involved discussions, I would only tweak a couple of points. Read his summary first below my remarks, and then return to my comments here for a few, hopefully helpful caveats and additions.

Others may very reasonably differ, but it is not my view that when Michael casts Satan down to take up full and unimpeded residence in the body of the mortally wounded and risen beast that he is now “confined” or restricted to the body of the Antichrist. As in the Lord’s incarnation, the Father remained omnipresent and ubiquitous, but the fullness of His divine nature was concentrated in all its moral perfection in the body / humanity of Jesus. This mystery of incarnation (1Tim 3:16) was, of course, made possible by the virgin birth, because only in this way was it possible for Jesus to be born perfectly free of the fallen, Adamic nature that all others are born into by natural procreation.

In similar parallel, the fullness of Satan’s moral image will be fully embodied / incarnated in the Antichrist, but as Isaiah said, the Antichrist (typified by the Assyrian) does not know God’s intended use of him (Isa 10:7). In the same way, Satan, symbolized as the dragon, knows his time is short, but the risen beast will doubtless think his time has just begun, that nothing will be withheld from this consummate expression of self exaltation.

Furthermore, just as the incarnation of the son was made possible by his freedom from any taint of the fallen nature by means of the virgin birth, just so, it appears that what Paul sees as necessary for the mystery of lawlessness to be revealed requires the removal, not only of Satan from his hindering position in heaven, but something has been removed from the humanity of the Antichrist at the same time. This is why there must be this marvelous intersection and convergence between the time of Satan’s expulsion that starts the tribulation (Dan 12:1 with Rev 12:7-14) and the death and resurrection of the Antichrist in the healing of the mortal wound, which occasions his ascent up out of the abyss into which he descended at death (Rev 11:7; 13:8), all taking place at the middle of the week.

Whatever it is that preserves even the least residue of what it is that makes us human, apparently, this is what has been removed through the Antichrist’s descent and ascent out of the abyss at the very same time that Satan is being removed by Michael from his hindering place in heaven. This great transition is necessary to reveal what Paul calls, “the mystery of lawlessness” (2Thes 2:7).

As Jesus, the Anointed prince of the host in Dan 8:11; 9:25-26, fulfilled the “mystery of godliness” through circumventing passing the fallen seed of man by the virgin birth, just so, the mystery of lawlessness is revealed in the resurrection and full embodiment of Satan in the Antichrist. This is made possible by the miraculous coincidence of the death and resurrection of the Antichrist with the casting down of Satan. Observe what this implies.

Doubtless, through their understanding and certain knowledge of the time, those of understanding (Dan 11:32-33; 12:3-4, 10) will imitate Daniel. Through deep self abasement and prevailing prayer, they too will receive the help of Michael. That is why all heaven rings out with shouts of Jubilee when Satan is cast down. It is also why, just now, as perhaps never before on such a wide scale, the saints received great power and strength (Dan 11:32; Rev 11:2; 12:10). It just so happens that both Daniel and John put this great anointing precisely at the middle of the week (Dan 11:31-33; Rev 11:2; 12:7-10). This is no accident! With Satan’s expulsion, not only is there woe for the ‘earth-dwellers’ (sensual, destitute of the Spirit), but with an open heaven, free of the Accuser’s influence, great power has come upon the saints for the final test and greatest witness unto death.

No wonder all of heaven rejoices when this great blockage has been once and for all removed from his illicit access to the consciences of believers, as through deep travail the veil gives way to the clearest grasp of the liberty of the gospel and fullest enforcement in heaven of the victory that Jesus won at the cross. With Michael’s greatest victory in the removal of Satan from his position of hindrance, the now awakened sleeping giant that is the true body of Christ will arise, and shake itself like Samson, to accomplish more in its last, remaining hours (in this mortal frame) than anytime since Pentecost. I see a type in Samson that gives me hope for the sleeping wise, some of whom have been sinfully distracted and compromised by the vanities of the world system, but God can use again the son He chastens.

So put the two things together. Christ cannot return and the kingdom cannot come in all its fullness UNTIL this man has first been revealed. This event is the ”WHAT” (Greek neuter) that withholds. What is being withheld? The WHAT, I would submit, is the return of Christ to gather us together (2Thes 2:1). Paul says this cannot happen until the man of lawlessness is revealed FIRST (2Thes 2:3). But for this to take place, there is a mystery that he embodies that also must be revealed. This is the mystery of lawlessness, but for this to be revealed, there is a person who must first be removed.

For the reasons shown, we believe that person to be Satan who must be removed from heaven by Michael in the middle of the week. It is Satan’s removal from his position as the one who hinders (1Thes 2:18) that permits the revelation of the mystery of lawlessness to be revealed in the man of lawlessness. This is fatal to his interest.

It is because the whole age waits for this great event that the saints in heaven and earth rejoice, not simply because the time of greatest tribulation has now started, but because “NOW is come salvation, strength, the kingdom of our God and the power of His Messiah” Now, with Michael’s victory over Satan in heaven, that which stood in the way (hindered) the full coming of the kingdom has been taken out of the way. The kingdom can now come unhindered. The opposer can no longer oppose the necessary revelation of the mystery of lawlessness that releases the Lord to release the remaining seals and finish the mystery of God (Rev 10:7; 11:15). Satan is out of the way! The long foretold tribulation can begin that brings in the kingdom and the sure fulfillment of all that is written.

Of greatest puzzlement to commentators is to decide between the what and the who in 2Thes 2:6-7. There is a what (neuter in the Greek text) that is restraining (or some preferred translations say ‘withholding’) and there is also a person who is restraining or withholding. How do we sort this out? I would suggest that the puzzle is best solved by understanding that the necessary prior revelation of the man of lawlessness is holding back the return of the Lord. This corrects the perilous error circulating at Thessalonica.

When Paul says, “and now you know WHAT withholds” (2Thes 2:6), he is saying that after reviewing with them the order of events he had laid down at his earlier visit, they are now reminded and thus fully apprised of why Jesus cannot be expected to return until this necessary preliminary event has first taken place. This calls to mind the person who is pledged to restrain the revelation of the mystery of lawlessness that will mean his time is short.

Who is the person and what is he restraining? Satan is restraining the revelation of the mystery of lawlessness. Why would he do this? It is because he knows that when this mystery is revealed in the person of the man of lawlessness, his time will be short.

Do not confuse the identification of the Antichrist with his revelation. He will be identifiable well before this, but he cannot be ‘revealed’ until Satan has been removed (cast down) in order to become incarnate in the man of lawlessness. For this mystery to be revealed, Satan must be “taken out of the way”.

We say this happens when he is cast down by Michael. Only then will Satan be forced to take up a full and unhindered habitation in the moral nature of the man of lawlessness, thus empowering him with “ALL power, signs, and deceiving wonders”, (reminiscent of the strong delusion evoked by his resurrection). The world has never seen anything, even remotely like this!

So Jesus cannot return until this happens first. The prior revelation of the man of sin is the event (the what) that is now withholding / i.e., hindering the return of Jesus to gather His own. This corrects the dangerous presumption that Christ’s return is immediately imminent, thus diverting from all that Jesus so carefully commended as a bulwark against deception and to be fully armed for the time when it comes (Mk 13:5, 14, 21-23).

But the withholding event calls to mind the withholding revelation and the unnamed person who is committed to withhold it. That is the revelation of the mystery of lawlessness in the man of lawlessness, and this can only be revealed when Satan is removed. It is Satan (not the Holy Spirit, or Michael) that must be forcibly removed in order to be fully embodied in the now resurrected Antichrist.

This is the strong delusion that causes the whole world to marvel when they see the mortally wounded beast that was, and is not, and yet is (Rev 13:8). The removal of Satan from heaven permits the predestined revelation of the mystery of lawlessness, and this in turn opens the way for the return of the King. It is the great ‘without which not’ of Jesus’ return and the end of the age.

When Satan can no longer retain his place in heaven as the one one who hinders / resists / withholds or holds back, the revelation of the mystery of lawlessness, his time is short. It is now, with his removal, that the kingdom can come in all its full strength and power. Therefore, we say Rev 12:7-12 becomes the key to understand the mystery of the restrainer in 2Thes 2:7.

As the brother so well points out (see below), this is all in perfect parallel to the way that through Daniel’s self emptying intercession, Michael was sent to remove the prince of Persia who was “withstanding” (the Hebrew equivalent of hinder / resist / oppose) the arrival of the holy messenger who carried the critical revelation of how the age will end (Dan 10:13-14). Doubtless, this is the background behind Paul’s understanding of the role of the dark powers to oppose and hinder the advance of the kingdom’s conquest of evil.

Somehow, Satan’s dejection must coincide perfectly with the death and resurrection of the Antichrsit (Rev 11:7; 13:3; 17:8). This is what reveals the mystery of lawlessness, which is nothing short of the revelation of Satan in the “coming prince” of Dan 9:26. It is the fulfillment of THIS mystery (i.e., “mystery of lawlessness”) on which all else depends and awaits, because Jesus CANNOT return to gather together His elect UNTIL this final, outstanding mystery has FIRST been revealed (Mt 24:29-31 with 2Thes 2:1-8).

Since the removal of Satan from heaven to earth must coincide perfectly with the time of the Antichrist’s death and resurrection (obviously, very closely aligned in time), we may ask why is the death and resurrection of the Antichrist necessary in order for Satan to fully inhabit this man? I would suggest that just as Jesus circumvented (by-passed) any hindrance to the full expression of the image of His Father through the virgin birth, something here too of a hindering nature must be removed from the Antichrist in order for him to most fully express the fully exposed image of his father, the Devi (“son of perdition”). What might that be? It would seem to have to be something that was never fully eradicated, even in the most wicked antichrists (plural) of history.

Other than the predestined timing, what is it that stopped these demonically empowered antichrists ‘ beasts (plural) from becoming THE Antichrist / beast? Whatever that is, it has apparently been removed by the mortally wounded Antichrist’s descent into the abyss. Whatever this is (the remnant of the moral image that makes us human?), apparently it is the impediment that is fully removed only by the death of the Antichrist (mortally wounded beast).

By death he descends into the abyss. In resurrection he ascends up from the abyss to become now the full incarnation of Satan in the flesh. This has apparently been made possible by the divinely ordained convergence of the death of this particular man and the expulsion of Satan from heaven at the very time the tribulation is about to begin with his entrance into the temple to present himself to the world as above all other forms of deity (Dan 11:36-37 with 2Thes 2:4).

Finally, one may very reasonably ask why was this left to be such a mystery? Why, if at all important for us to know, did Paul not simply identify the restrainers, both the impersonal what or thing that is being restrained, and the person who is restraining? Firstly, it was not his pastoral purpose to expound on all the details, but simply review and recount what he had told them on his earlier visit in order to correct a serious error. But also, it is in the nature of scripture that many things are revealed in such a way as to require grace and mercy for the Spirit’s help in making the correct connections, and this is especially true of anything that the Lord wanted to be kept till the time of the end.

That said, I believe Paul did indeed most definitely identify what was being withheld. It was the return of the Lord. Let me show why this seems so plain to me.

Translators will translate enesteken in 2Thes 2:2 as “already here”, or “near at hand”, depending on whether they think the Thessalonians would have conceived of the DOL as distinct from the actual return of Jesus, since Jesus had obviously not arrived personally. The error of the Thessalonians that the day of the Lord had either arrived or was very imminently to be expected would be corrected by Paul’s demonstration that the DOL is being held back by the necessity of a specific event, namely, the preliminary revelation of the man of sin.

This, I would argue, is the ‘what’, or the impersonal ‘thing’ that is holding back the return of the Lord. It is an event, one that very necessarily MUST preceded the Lord’s return. What is being withheld (some translate restrained) is the Lord’s return, and the thing or event (impersonal neuter in the Greek text) is the prior revelation of the man of lawlessness exalting himself in the temple of God (2Thes 2:3-4). Simple as that!.

Commentators puzzle and say, “if we only knew what Paul had told them on his first visit, then we would know what they knew”, but we must modestly decline anything more than a rather tentative guess. To me, it seems fantastic that there would be any question of what Paul would have told them on his first visit. He told them exactly what Jesus told His disciples in the Olivet prophecy!

With all urgency, Jesus commands His disciples to read and understand Daniel if they will know the signs and escape the great deception. No wonder Paul opens his correction with words very similar to those by which Jesus begins His discourse, “Take heed that no man deceive you” (Mt 24:4). Paul, moved by the same urgency of warning, will say, “Let no man deceive you by any means …” So a lot at stake here.

The only blank that Paul did not fill in is the identity of the person who restrains. I believe this is because the Holy Spirit did not permit him to make this obvious. I believe it is one of those things reserved till the time of the end that when opened would open so much else. By the Spirit’s kind grace we can put the pieces together and see things reserved for the end, so not to be taken by surprise, or at least have a frame of reference by which to understand the unexpected when it comes. Appropriately, God left it to the Revelation of John to give us the clue that would make perfect sense of the restrainer of 2Thes 2:7, as both build upon the angelology (principalities and powers) of Daniel and Ezekiel that build on Moses and the prophets.

Reggie is of the conviction that Satan is the Restrainer of 2 Thes 2. That might sound counterintuitive to many. This is just my attempt to clarify that position. (I’m not saying this is exactly how Reggie sees it). Some thoughts on the Restrainer of 2 Thes 2. Everything you’ve ever been taught will likely contradict what I’m about to say, it took me 28 years to finally come to see this, now I just can’t unsee it….

2 Thes 2v7… “….Now he who restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way” Some translations say “restrain >him<” or “restrains >it<” or “restrains >evil<” etc. That is only because translators have struggled with this verse. The “it”, “him”, “evil” etc. should not be there. Because of bad translations and what we’ve been taught by sincere teachers who have read bad translations, an assumption is made that it is >evil< that is being restrained. New King James Version… And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. (Good Translation – No ‘it’ or ‘him’ etc) New American Standard Bible… And you know what restrains >>him<< now, so that he will be revealed in his time. (Bad Translation – here we see the Paradigm shifting “him”) So that added “him” or that added “it” etc, is like points on a railway track really, something tiny but entirely capable of shunting the whole train (of thought) on to a different track. And that’s clearly what it does.

So to summarize, the original text does not state that it’s evil or ant-christ that is being restrained. Thats a false assumption based on bad translations. Moving on… Scripture doesn’t explicitly state either that this mystery “restrainer” is the Holy Spirit, Church or Michael or Rome etc. All these views are of course quite widely held by believers and indicate the manifold confusion that exists surrounding this passage because its >>assumed<< because of bad translations, that it’s evil that’s being restrained. So all we can really take from the text is that there is a mysterious “Restrainer” mentioned. We don’t know what he’s restraining and that he will be removed at some point, and when he is, the Antichrist can come into view. So here goes… In Daniel 10, Daniel prays and he is heard immediately and the Angel is sent forth at once but the fallen demonic powers in the heavenlies resist and restrain the Angel for 21 days until Michael intervenes. In Revelation 12v7-9 we see Michael again, this time casting down Satan and the demonic powers to earth. We are told exactly when this happens i.e. at the 1260 days (final 3 1/2 year) point.

Directly following this expulsion, we see this in the very next verse… 10 THEN I heard a loud voice in heaven say >>NOW<< have come the >>SALVATION<< and the >>POWER<< and the >>KINGDOM OF OUR GOD<< and the >>AUTHORITY OF HIS MESSIAH<< for the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down (taken out of the way). So as Satan is removed we see a colossal dam burst in the Heavens. Satan and his angels were holding something back, as they are taken out of the way, the dam bursts! So Satan, the restrainer of God’s Salvation, Power, Kingdom, and Authority in the heavenlies, is now cast out and down from his >restraining place< and hurled down to earth.

As stated, this happens clearly at the 3 1/2 year point. In conjunction with this we see the beast receiving a mortal wound in Rev 13v3 but coming back to life again and the whole world marvelling at this. He then sets off on his 42 month (3 1/2 year) reign of terror. So as Satan is cast down by Michael exactly at the 3 1/2 year point this dovetails in perfect concert with the beast (human) dying from a mortal wound then coming back to life.

I think it’s plain Satan is now permitted, or perhaps even forced, to take up residence in this man’s body. So what we now see is the full incarnation of Satan in bodily form. We saw “The Mystery of Godliness” in the incarnation of God in bodily form in the person of Jesus. Now we see “The Mystery of Iniquity”, the full incarnation of Satan, in bodily form.

Astonishingly, there is divine symmetry here. Both “mysteries” commence their “ministry” in a death and resurrection (Jesus baptism by John), both have exactly 3 1/2 years. The Genesis prophetic opener of “the seed of the woman” and “the seed of the serpent” has now fully come into view. Keep in mind also Michael appears in Jude where he contends with Satan over Moses’ body. Why would Satan want access to Moses’ body? As Derek Prince states demons are personalities without a body. Speculating, but did he want to incarnate Moses body to then decieve the Israelites? God did not permit it then, but does He permit it, even orchestrate it, at the 3 1/2 year point? So “the lawless one will be revealed”. I.e. Satan is forced down and out of the heavenly sphere to take up residence in a man’s dead body. He’s now exposed and confined into a human body and is FURIOUS >>knowing<< his time is short. So for me this raises a fundamental question. The presupposition amongst much of what calls itself church in relation to 2 Thes 2 is that Satan >>wants<< to take the stage, that he >>wants<< to take over, that “good” in the form of the Holy Spirit OR the Church OR Rome OR Michael is restraining him. So Does Satan >>really<< want this to happen? Mathew 8v29… “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to >>torture<< us before the >>appointed time<>knowing his time is short<<, knowing only eternal torture and torment awaits him.

I see it like the mafia in a city where the forces of law and order are finally and relentlessly closing in. They were happy to be incognito and pulling the strings in the dark but now they know their time is soon up and they are being forced out into the open and to pending and ultimate justice. Or like a desperate death row prisoner who knows his time of execution is fast approaching. In both these instances it’s the last thing they want and a truly desperate fight will ensue. And so we have the end times. A desperate and dark kingdom is coming to be exposed and ultimately judged and it well knows it. Like a cornered pack of rabid hyenas the final expulsion will be vicious and brutal.

In closing. If the mystery restrainer is not Satan then who is it? From whatever angle I now look at this from nothing fits better or makes more sense. I just can’t “unsee” it. Obviously the pre-trib camp uses this passage to bolster their early rapture view but it’s a doctrine based entirely on inference (that’s another story). In closing, Scripture makes plain this displacement, this ‘taking out of the way’ event happens at the 3 1/2 year point so a completely “Open Heaven” is there now for the Saints, the restraining demonic forces are removed and unprecedented Power, Salvation and Authority is now made available. It will truly be the Church’s finest hour. Revelation 7 tells us of a harvest of souls from every tribe and nation, a number so vast it cannot be counted will come out of the “Great Tribulation”.

God surely keeps the best wine till last and I believe this “Restrainer” being “taken out of the way” is the key to all this. So considering now the same verse… 2 Thes 2v7… ….Now he (Satan) who restrains (God’s Power, Salvation, Kingdom and Authority in the heavenlies) will do so >>until<< he is taken (literally forced) out of the way (by Michael in the midst of the final week). As clearly detailed in Revelation 12! So instead of “Good restraining the Evil”, it’s in effect “Evil restraining the Good” until Michael casts the evil restrainer down and out at the final 3 1/2 years point and we see an unprecedented release of God’s Spirit and Power and the greatest ingathering of souls imaginable. So this truly turns everything on its head. As I said at the offset, this view will likely blow all your fuses; it did mine. It’s easy to dismiss as it goes against the grain at night on all that’s been taught on it in this hour. I just humbly ask you to prayerfully consider it.

Ten Years?

If the necessary preceding events fall into place within the next few years, then yes, we could be as little as ten years away.

If we interpret the thousand years of Rev 20 as literal and exact (rather than symbolic or approximate), then we have our key to the three days of Hos 6:2. The question in dispute is whether this is a key that God intends. Or is this merely symbolic of a brief period of time, as thought by most commentators?

But what is brief about two days if it represents the whole duration of the age of exile and covenant judgment? And why is the golden age of Jewish hope limited to only one day (i.e., “the third day”)? Surely a mystery is invested in this unusual usage that is set to serve its greatest purpose at the time of the end (Dan 12:4, 9).

One thing should be undeniably clear. The “affliction” of Hos 5:15 can be nothing less than the great tribulation of the latter days spoken of by Moses and all the prophets. Beginning with Moses, this transitional event was seen as the great dividing line between “this age” of estrangement and covenant judgement, and “the age to come” of ultimate covenant fulfillment when the nation’s perennial blindness would be lifted forever (Deut 29:4; Isa 6:10-11; 32:13-17; Eze 39:22, 28-29).

It is well documented that many have understood the course of civilization to be on a scale of six millennia given to the government of man (the number of man), and a seventh, millennial sabbath of the kingdom of God on earth. On this reckoning, the metaphorical third day envisions the millennium of Rev 20.

So the “third day” as the post-tribulational millennium becomes our key to the duration of the two days as the end of Israel’s covenant estrangement, and God’s temporary disownment and desertion, in the foretold hiding of His face (Deut 31:17-18; 32:20; Isa 54:8; 64:7; Hos 1:9-10; 2:23; 3:5; 4:6; 5:6, 15; Mic 3:4; 5:3; Eze 39:23-24, 28-29). If the third day begins at the end of a yet future tribulation, this can only mean that the two days must be reckoned, not from the beginning of exile in 722 B. C., but from some point approximately 2000 years before the end of the final tribulation.

The question of what determines the point that begins the two days must be something of awesome magnitude. This is strongly hinted in Hos 5:15 in comparison with Mic 5:1-3. The context assumes, not the general apostasy of the nation, such as would not discontinue seasons of blessing, even occasional revival up to the time of Jesus. No, this is something more final.

The offense that Israel is confessing at the end of the tribulation is the ultimate provocation that reached its climax in the rejection of the Son. What else would be sufficient cause for such an age long abandonment?

Hosea 5:15
I will go and return to my place,
till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face:
in their affliction they will seek me early.

Micah 5:1-3 tells us plainly what that consummate offense was. It was the smiting of the ruler ruler from Bethlehem. Only this could evoke such solemn words that so well sum up the long and tortured history of the Jewish people.

Now gather yourself in troops, O daughter of troops:
he has laid siege against us:
they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
But you, Bethlehem Ephratah,
though you be little among the thousands of Judah,
yet out of you shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel;
whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
Therefore (for this cause) will he give them up,
until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth:
then shall the remnant of his brethren return …

Commentators will typically say that the one who is smitten with a rod upon the cheek (a metaphor for cruel humiliation) was the king of Israel. (Commentators are divided as to whether this was Hoshea at the time of the Assyrian invasion, or Zedekiah at the time of the Babylonian invasion). But notice, what if the judge (ruler) of Israel in verse one is the pre-existent ruler from Bethlehem of verse two, the Messiah from David’s line?

This alone is sufficient to explain the gravity and tragic implications of what takes place as the result of the smiting of the judge. It is the age long “giving up” of the elect nation. Nothing could be more solemn and full of tragic portent. If I am Jewish, contemplating the saga of my nation’s tragic history, this verse should evoke the deepest emotion. Notice carefully the decisive connective, “therefore”, in verse three.

What is the ‘therefore’ there for? To what does the ‘therefore’ of verse three refer to as the causal source of what follows? We must ask, what offense, what momentous provocation is sufficient cause for God to use such solemn and foreboding words as these? “Therefore (for this cause) shall He give them up UNTIL the time when she who travails has come to birth” (compare Isa 13:8; 26:16-17; 66:8; Jer 30:6-7; Dan 12:1).

What cause could be so great enough for God to withdraw and hide His face? This is the language of divine desertion! This is wrath upon the “people of My wrath” (Isa 10:6; Lk 21:22-23). To answer this question is to identify a particular “offense”, not offenses (plural) or guilt in general, but ‘THE’ consummate offense (singular) that moved the Lord to “go and return to My place”.

The implications are as clear as they are profound. With the ultimate rejection of God in the person of the Son, the larger part of the nation would be “given up” until the post-tribulational birth / resurrection of the fallen nation (Isa 66:8).

[I cannot speak of Mic 5:1-4 without mentioning how beautifully typified this reunion is by the reunion of Joseph to his estranged brethren. Here, as also typified in the weeping of Zech 12:10, Joseph’s brethren come in bowed submission to their brother, exactly as in the dream that so angered them as to plot his murder. The parallels are sublime!]

With Israel’s fateful “fall” (Ro 11:11-12), the foretold stumbling at the tested cornerstone laid in Zion, as the glory of the Lord had departed from the temple in Ezekiel’s vision, so now the Lord of glory departs from the temple with the words, “Your house is left to you desolate. You will not see Me again UNTIL you will say, ‘blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord’” (Mt 23:39). In a few days, He rises, and after 40 days returns to His Father’s right hand, there waiting ‘UNTIL’ His enemies are made His footstool.

Can this all be incidental, unrelated to Hos 6:2, so that the three days are nothing more than a mere metaphor for an indeterminate period of time? That is the question each one will have to answer in their own heart before the Lord. This is a mystery. It is somewhat hidden for a purpose. It is for babes, not for those who are wise in their own eyes.

Nothing else so well agrees, not only with the immediate context, but with the mystery of the two comings that progressive revelation will bring to light at the appointed time (1Cor 2:7-8). If the two days are to be reckoned from the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, and if they are to be taken with the same literalness and exactness of the millennial third day, then, yes, we are fast approaching His return to within a decade or very closely thereabouts.

Where better to mark the beginning of the two days than the Lord’s departure to the Father’s right hand, after what Paul will call Israel’s “fall”? (Ro 11:11-12). This climactic fall and special hardening does not begin with the exile. Nor is it simply the continuum of Israel’s perennial blindness and covenant dereliction, reaching back to Moses (Deut 4:25-27; 29:4). No, this is reckoned from the time that Israel stumbled at the rejected cornerstone (Ps 118:22; Isa 8:14; 28:16; Mt 21:42; Acts 4:11; 1Pet 2:4, 6-8).

From this point, and not before, “a door of faith” was opened, as God began now to “visit the gentiles to call out from them a people for His name” (compare Mat 10:5; 15:26-27; 28:19 , with Acts 14:27; 15:14). This special, very unexpected ‘pre-tribulational’ visitation of the gentiles will continue “UNTIL” the fullness of the gentiles has come in” at the time of the Deliverer’s return to Zion. (Isa 59:20-21; Ro 11:25-27).

Note that it was well known that the nations would be blessed by Israel’s return and exaltation AFTER the tribulation. It was unknown that the gentiles would be made fellow heirs by the revelation of the gospel BEFORE Israel’s national day of deliverance. That a great installment of the promise to bless all nations through Abraham’s seed would be fulfilled while Israel yet remained in blindness and further exile was unknown and unexpected. This belonged to the mystery hidden in other ages (Ro 16:25-26; Eph 3:4-6, 9; 6:19; Col 1:26-27; 4:3).

Though not anticipated, this astonishing turn of events was nonetheless prophesied by Moses and Isaiah (Deut 32:21; Isa 49:5-6; 56:8; 65:1; Mt 21:43; Ro 10:19; 1Pet 2:10). This would be the time when an alien people (Isa 28:11), a “no people”, a “foolish nation”, would be chosen to provoke the wayward nation to jealousy (Deut 32:21; Isa 28:11; 49:5-6; 56:8; 65:1; Mt 21:43; Ro 10:19; 1Pet 2:10). How appropriate if this hidden interim should last 2000 years in agreement with the two days that exist between the Lord’s return to the Father’s right hand at the end of the 69th week, and His return to destroy the Antichrist and establish His reign over restored Israel at the end of the 70th.

The question of how literally and exactly we can take the three days of Hos 6:2 as symbolic of three millennia will depend on how literal and exact we see the thousand years of Rev 20. This will determine how literal and exact we see the two days that end with the tribulation. If, on the other hand, the thousand years is not literal, or only approximate, as even many premillennialists hold, then Hos 5:15-6:2 must be accounted for in some other way. There is no shortage of suggestions by commentators, though some old school premillennial scholars have long since held the very position we take, and this was many years before our time when the two days are now so close to expiration.

The question is what do we believe of God’s ways to hide His secrets from the wise and prudent as He reveals them to babes? Can this be such a mystery set within the text for His people to search out and detect as the time draws near? And what of the competing interpretations? Which of these do we consider would most glorify the Lord? Of course, it is the interpretation that proves true, but we are also informed by the examples of time prophecies that have already been fulfilled.

We have only to look at Jeremiah’s 70 years and Daniel’s seventy sevens. Some deny, but we have shown that these predicted numbers (except the much disputed final seven of Dan 9:27) were all miraculously fulfilled, very literally and very exactly, to the very year. This tells us something of God’s pattern of commitment to specificity and precision. This demonstration of such amazing chronological accuracy argues well for the literal and precise fulfillment of what remains. After all, when, after “the desolation of many generations” (Isa 61:4), has history ever been so ‘poised’ for the speedy fulfillment of all that remains to be fulfilled before the Lord can return?

With the second Roman destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 132, and the many generations that the Land lay desolate, it naturally became quite un-attractive to tie the return of the Lord to a yet future restoration of Jerusalem and destruction of a yet future temple. But now, since the miracles of 1948 and 1967, we have come full circle! Exactly as the Jerusalem of the first century was a trembling cup, tilting towards ‘a’ (not “THE”) great tribulation, it is the same now again, only this time it is all the nations of the globe that will be burdened with this burdensome stone (Isa 34:8; Zech 12:2-3). The die is cast and we’re on a manifest trajectory for the full balance of all that remains. Who can deny?

So what if His return proves to be “right on time”, according to a mystery of the time indicator that lay hidden in the text, particularly, but not only in Hosea’s prophecy of the two days? Did He not expect His people to be ‘’connecting the dots” at the time of the end? (Dan 12:4, 9). Did He not say, “I have foretold you all things”? (Mk 13:23). Other than the very precise “day and hour”, is there anything pertaining to His plan that He did not most gloriously foretell?

Lest it be said that this is date setting, we ask, was Jeremiah’s 70, or Daniel’s 70 7’s date setting? Did those who received the prophecy know something certainly and definitely about the time? Will those living to see the abomination be unaware that approximately 3 1/2 years remains till His coming in the clouds? Will those living in “those days” after the man of sin is revealed in the temple know they have entered upon the final 3 ½ years? “When you therefore will see the abomination …” Both Jesus and Paul fully expect that the saints living at that time will see this event and know what follows (Mt 24:15-16, 21; 2Thes 2:4).

What of those who will see the fateful peace arrangement (Isa 28:15, 18, Eze 38:8, 11, 14; Dan 9:27; 11:23; 1Thes 5:3). Not just any peace agreement but the one that will permit the return of the orthodox to temple and sacrifice? (Dan 11:31; 12:11; Mt 24:14). Will those witnessing this not know that the door of the last seven years has just closed fast behind them?

What an advantage it will be to the bride in her preparation if she knows she has only a little while (the first half of the week) before the Jews will be thrust into the waiting arms of gentile servants and fully equipped witnesses who are prepared to receive them with love and patience, enduring the same afflictions with them, knowing their eyes are very soon to be opened.

Finally, suppose we are wrong in our interpretation. Does this set us up to be ‘date setters’, further discrediting the testimony? Not if we understand what Daniel, Jesus, Paul, and John give as essential preceding criteria that will either qualify or dismiss our interpretation well in advance of any potential false alarms.

Here, we are greatly safeguarded against premature declarations. If the two thousand years (the symbolic two days) pass uneventfully. If by a certain time there has been no temple and no sacrifice, then we have only ventured a reasonable, we think God glorifying, interpretation of the text. Our case is no case at all unless a great deal of preceding fulfillment follows very soon in due order, since 2000 years since Jesus’ departure is almost upon us. But again, how approximate was Jeremiah’s 70, or Daniel’s 69? (Reference the detailed chronology laid out in the Simple Layman series on YouTube. I forget which sessions).

Until such confirming events are clearly in view, we must be committed to caution. Both Jesus and Paul give one particular sign on which all else depends, and even this will not come without much that must precede, namely, a disarming peace agreement that permits the return of the regular sacrifice on mount Moriah. So a lot must happen in order for all of this to fall sufficiently into place in the time that these compelling considerations lead us to expect.

In any event, we are safeguarded by this: Our interpretation can be no better than these necessary, verifying preliminarily events. Can so much be fulfilled in so short a time? It will be a wonder to behold! But God is well able. And it just may please Him to wait till very late to move the political mountains that make such a swift transition appear most improbable. I think here of the suddenness with which the Berlin wall came down with the overnight fall of the Soviet Union.

Romans 9:28
For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.

Nonetheless, for many more reasons than brevity will permit, we feel quite sure that such a literal and precise fulfillment is how the Lord has chosen to most wondrously vindicate His faithfulness to foretell all us “all things”, even this. (Amos 3:7; Mk 13:23; Acts 26:22-23; Rev 10:7).

If the two days are reckoned from the cross and the ascension. If they are not approximate but represent two thousand years exactly, this would suggest that as early as the last year of the next administration’s term in office, we could be seeing the start of the final seven.

How will this be recognized? If we have understood correctly, the final seven begins with a deceptive peace arrangement. History has seen many of these, so what distinguishes this from all others?

It is the recognition by many nations of Israel’s covenant right to practice their religion at the designated location in Jerusalem (Dan 9:27). Therefore, if this is indeed the peace that seduces Israel into a fatal false trust (Isa 28:15, 18; Eze 38:8, 11, 14; Dan 8:25; 9:27; 11:23-24; Mt 24:15-16; 1Thes 5:3; Rev 12:6), it will mean that very soon after this agreement has been ratified, preparations to begin the regular sacrifice will shortly follow.

Not only this, but according to a much disputed portion of Daniel’s prophecy (Dan 10:14-12:13), most commentators (certainly not all) assign to antiquity much that remains still in the future. This is not the place to make the case, but the evidence will show that Dan 11:21 introduces the Antichrist who is only partially and very imperfectly pre-typified by the Syrian tyrant, Antiochus IV, of the second century B.C. It is the Antichrist himself that places the abomination in Dan 11:31 (with Dan 12:11), and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped in Dan 11:36-37 (with 2Thes 2:4).

This suggests that the first half of the week begins with the league / alliance of Dan 11:23. (“AFTER the league made with him he shall work deceitfully and come up and become strong with a small people”). This means that from Dan 11:23-31, we have the first half of the week covered in amazing, very observable detail that will further confirm the time, predicted event following predicted event (a play by play sequence). This will give the believing observer a clear countdown of preceding events leading up to the abomination.

What will this mean for the prophetically informed saints for their crucial preparation and witness? Everything! It will be priceless! Time fails to begin to touch on all that God has invested for our help by telling us all things in advance when we are about to enter upon the greatest global hardship in the history of the planet. Through the power and clarity of the spirit of prophecy (Rev 19:10), it will be the church’s finest hour (Dan 11:32; Rev 12:10).

I heard a well meaning friend’s complaint that scripture couldn’t possibly intend a literal temple and literal sacrifice because this would be too “formulaic”, too easy for all to recognize. Well, as convincing as this line of reasoning may sound, it fails the test of what I like to call, “the plain person’s plain reading of plain language.”

Never mind this being too obvious. The scripture is clear that despite being put on open display, the true spiritual meaning of these things will utterly elude the wisdom of this age. And that is just the point. These things will NOT be “done in a corner”! On the contrary, the greater the visibility and accessibility of these public events, the greater accountability and exposure of the heart, but also the greater usefulness of the miracle of prophecy for the instruction of an innumerable multitude (Dan 11:33; 12:3 with Rev 7:9, 13-14).

Yet, for all this, the holy messenger says to Daniel, “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand” (Dan 12:10). This makes perfect sense of how it is that so late as the 6th bowl, the Lord’s return will yet come upon the unsuspecting wicked as a thief, signs, wonders, and the most prolific fulfillment of prophecy notwithstanding (Rev 16:12-16).

Yours in the Beloved, Reggie

I realize I’ve said as much many times before, but feel this needs more urgently to be stressed now than ever. By its nature, my calling and part in the Body has exposed me, far more than I could wish, to the inner workings of many strong and compelling lies that powerfully oppose and threaten the church’s readiness to escape the unparalleled deception that Jesus said would both precede and accompany the unequaled tribulation.

Even now, throughout the far greater part of professing Christendom, the tribulation without parallel or equal is believed to be past. The tribulation has come and gone with the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. A fast-growing (two related words like this become one hyphenated adjective) community called ‘preterist’ believes that Jesus’ promised return “immediately after the tribulation of those days” has also come and gone, some stoutly affirming that the resurrection is also past. This, since Dan 12:1-2 so unequivocally connects the resurrection to the unequaled tribulation.

A less popular but still thriving view, particularly among Adventist groups, is the so-called ‘historicist’ view of Revelation. This view sees the ‘great tribulation’, not as a brief period of time at the the end, but as stretching out to include either all or most of the inter-advent period. Many historic premillennialists (an accepted prefix – no need for a hyphen) view the half week (the 3 1/2 years of Daniel and Revelation) (delete comma – parentheses function as commas) as beginning with the ascension, basing their view on Rev. 12’s imagery of the catching up of the man-child, followed immediately in vision by the great tribulation.

Many, perhaps most, (add comma) evangelical lovers of Israel who see a future Antichrist invasion of Israel (delete comma between long subject and the verb) do not expect to be directly impacted by the last great deception. This is because they expect to be raptured to heaven where they will be celebrating the marriage supper while the Jewish people are experiencing their greatest hour of anguish without the church’s witness. This means that those living on this side of the rapture will not be so critically and decisively benefited by taking close heed to Jesus’ directive to read and understand Daniel in order to escape the deception that would imperil the very elect.

But if the church is exempt from the great tribulation, who then are the persecuted saints described in Daniel and Revelation? We are told these do not belong to the body of Christ, nor do they become part of the body of Christ when they are saved. Rather, it is supposed that the persecuted believers of the tribulation belong to another people of God altogether, with a different hope and destiny that is distinct from the hope and destiny of the church.

On this view, Jesus’ directive to carefully search out the meaning of Daniel’s prophecy will only be of vital relevance to those ‘left behind’ to face the dangers of those days. However, if this view is in error, it threatens to rob God’s people of vital preparation and protection from a deception so great as to threaten the very elect. Regardless then of one’s view, any fair-minded student of scripture should at least appreciate the reasonable cause for concern, at least taking stock of what is ultimately at stake in one’s perspective on the time and meaning of the tribulation and the question of the church’s relation to it.

Of all the competing views, the one that most insults and slights the sacred trust of the canon, and the Reformed doctrine of the perspicuity of scripture, is the lazy indifference that comfortably proclaims that it is impossible to know much that is definite or certain when it comes to eschatology. But it is Jesus Himself that prescribes with utmost clarity and simplicity what I like to call, “the plain man’s plain path through the millennial maze.”

Even before understanding the ‘what’ or the ‘when’ of the great tribulation, before discovering its approximate duration and then, most importantly, its meaning and purpose – even before knowing what the abomination of desolation might be – there is one simple directive that Jesus gives towards escaping the great deception that would threaten, “if possible”, the very elect. In Mt 24:15, Jesus is basically shouting, “pay attention to Daniel!” But much more particularly, He directs His sheep to one specific event that Daniel describes in considerable detail. In sum, He commands us to go to Daniel, find this particular event, “the abomination of desolation”, and to be careful that we understand what we read.

The reasons for this simple obedience will prove most crucial, not only towards escaping the great deception, but to a glorious unfolding of the whole sweep of God’s costly investment in scripture and history by which His Name is most fully glorified in all the earth. A knowledge of the relation of final things to the seedbed of covenant and promise is crucial for the church’s greater vision of God.
Jesus well knew this signal event to be the key to understanding the unsealed vision, which those with understanding (the maskilim of Dan 11:32-33, 35, 12:3, 9-10) would be proclaiming to Israel and the nations during the last persecution. According to Rev 7:9, 13-14, the testimony of tribulation saints will result in the evangelization of a vast number that will be saved out of ‘the tribulation, the great one’ (Rev 7:9, 13-14). The use of the double definite article in the Greek text is strong evidence that this is not tribulation in general, the common experience of all Christians in this age (Jn 16:33; Acts 14:22), but much more specifically, the great tribulation in particular.

Moreover, when one traces the oft-recurring theme of a final, unequaled tribulation and its centrality in the plan of God, beginning with Moses’ first mention in Deut 4:29-30, so much opens up concerning the nature and goals of God’s covenantal structure of history, and the conflict that rages over the authority of the Word, not only as to the moral and spiritual claims of the covenant, but particularly that greatest of all offenses, most calculated to test and reveal the heart, namely, God’s sovereign prerogative to choose as He will choose. This deep-seated protest and presumption of entitlement traces all the way back to Satan’s original envy (Ps 2; 48:2; Isa 14; note esp, verse 13; Eze 28). It is the basis of all antisemitism. It is why the Antichrist will be encamped on Mount Zion when the Lord returns (Dan 11:45).

I believe that at least part of the problem lies in what we bring to the scripture. When many read the Lord’s plain directive in Mt 24:15, they do not read it with virginal simplicity. “I will go to Daniel and read of this event and pray to understand”. Too often, there are already preconceived notions that have predetermined what one will find, and even much more, by what one must NOT find.

When we obey this all-too-neglected directive (“let the reader understand”) with an honest and open heart, uninfluenced by preconceived notions, we are only part way there. It is here we learn that revelation, skill, and insight came to Daniel when he “set his heart to understand” (Dan 10:12), just as the prophets before and after him would “inquire and search diligently” (1Pet 1:11). We are called into the fellowship of mysteries that require searching out with intense, holy desire, not for pragmatic self-interest, not even only for the purpose of avoiding deception. We are to have the attitude of “come and see” regarding the place of His dwelling, the beauty of His courts, and the secrets He has reserved for His friends. Our passion must be His glory, His wondrous handiwork, His costly investment, His manifold wisdom — and His greater glory in the fellowship of a ‘hidden wisdom’ ordained to our glory.

It is therefore most interesting how the mysteries of God can be so well hidden in such plain sight. It is not that they are intellectually obscure. On the contrary, there are basic protections built right in by the way that scripture interprets scripture. We will take for our best example what we find when we very simply obey Jesus by going to Daniel to look for the abomination of desolation. Jesus well knew that by so doing, we would discover, not only the meaning of this particular event, but very importantly, add comma what precedes and what follows.

By setting this initially strange, but ultimately strategic prophetic signpost at the end of Israel’s long history of covenant and promise, so much more of the overarching plan of God comes into much clearer light. It is no wonder then, comma that Daniel is situated at the center of the seven millennia of God’s prophetic schema of history, the “middle of the week”, so to speak. Interestingly, when Daniel asks, “How long till the end of these wonders?”, we understand the primary application will be the final 3.5 years, but another viable, perhaps dual, comma application would be that from Daniel’s place in history, there would be 3 1/2 millennia till “all these things would be finished”. On that view, which I think compelling, this would include the thousand-year reign of Christ and His saints.

Jesus well knew that this simple obedience would be the key that opens up, not only the order of the signal events of the end, but delete comma as noted, Daniel’s prophecy establishes the eschatological framework for the whole sweep of redemptive history from Genesis to Revelation. So, what do we find concerning this event that will prove such a protection against deception and a key to opening up and setting in right order the greater framework of prophecy? I submit it is by a simple refusal to separate what God has joined.

I cannot here begin to confirm by example, but in all my study, every system of prophetic interpretation (no comma) of which I’m aware (no comma) very obviously goes off at one of three places. Each of these is an example of separating what God has joined, but only by great violence to the text. I can only show a couple of examples.

The abomination of desolation is mentioned four times in Daniel (Dan 8:11; 9:27: 11:31; 12:11). In all four places it is accompanied by the removal of the regular, daily sacrifice. In Dan 12:11, the sacrifice is taken away 1290 days from the time that Daniel and all the righteous are raised from the dead (Dan 12:1-2). In Dan 9:27, the sacrifice is caused to stop at the midpoint of Daniel’s final week. This is 3 1/2 years from the end.

We must remember that Daniel was looking for the end of exile and the coming of the kingdom promised in the prophets before him. He is desperately seeking to understand when this tragic history would give way to kingdom glory. He is asking, “How long to the end of these wonders?” (Dan 12:7).

In Dan 9:24-27, Daniel had learned of the 70 weeks (for the readers unfamiliar with the shorthand) that Israel would be required to wait for the “coming in of the everlasting righteousness”, which would be the righteousness of the promised kingdom of David. This is the righteousness of the New Covenant that Jeremiah anticipates to come at the end of the period that he calls, “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer 30:6-7).

This is the tribulation without equal, which the earlier prophets so commonly associate with the day of the Lord that ends a brief time of unparalleled national affliction and travail. Daniel will put the unequaled time of trouble at the end of the 70th 7, more particularly the second half of the last seven. In keeping with Jeremiah and the earlier prophets, Daniel puts the great transition between this age of covenant wrath and the coming age of kingdom peace and righteousness. He manifestly did not see the age between. This belonged to the mystery that would not be fully revealed and understood until the Spirit would be poured out at Pentecost (Rom 16:25-26; 1Pet 1:11-12)

But here’s what is too seldom observed or considered. In order for Jesus’ prophecy of the end to be fulfilled according to Daniel’s reference to the abomination of desolation, there MUST be a sacrifice that is stopped approximately 3 1/2 years before the final persecutor is destroyed and the dead are raised (Dan 12:1-2, 7, 11).
Likewise, in Dan 9:27 the half week begins when the sacrifice is stopped. Is the “end” that ends the half week of Dan 9:27 the same “end” that brings the deliverance of Daniel’s people and the resurrection of the righteous in Dan 12:1-2, 7, 11, 13? That is a question to be decided, but you can see how God has wisely given us pieces to a puzzle, but not without also providing us a plain path through it.

What and where is this sacrifice? Neither Jesus nor Paul specifically mentions the sacrifice, but both speak of a great violation and desecration that takes place in the temple in Jerusalem (Mt 24:15-16; 2Thes 2:4), as John will associate the temple to the final treading down of Jerusalem in Rev 11:1-2, again describing the half week of Daniel’s prophecy. There is no need to specify the sacrifice since Daniel has supplied this at every mention of the abomination. And it is clear that a temple service in the ‘holy place’ in Jerusalem is not going to exist without a sacrifice, which, of course, cannot continue beyond the point that the Antichrist imposes himself.

Stubbornness enters in when such things as presuppositions and preferences, even fears induced by taunts and the gross caricatures of a convenient ‘guilt by association’, are permitted to bias an objective handling of the evidence. All of this works to hinder us from making the otherwise obvious connections. The Lord sets a wise and perfect trap, particularly in the Word itself, for the pride of self-reliance and the momentum of uncrucified presumption. The interpretation of scripture is itself a test of the heart.
It is the power of our presumption that short circuits our objectivity, breaking the otherwise obvious connections. For example, where in 52 A.D. (add comma), when Paul is writing his second epistle, would the ‘temple of God’ be understood to be standing? It is preposterous to imagine that apart from any qualification to the contrary, Paul would have expected the Thessalonians to have any other kind of edifice in mind but the one in Jerusalem, particularly since he is so plainly ‘re’-establishing the same order of events revealed in Daniel, rehearsed during his earlier visit, and referenced by Jesus. This is even further confirmed by noting Paul’s use of language taken over from the Lord’s Olivet prophecy (compare, “our gathering together unto Him” 2Thes 2:1) where Paul is quite obviously citing Jesus’ well-known reference to the “gathering together of His elect” (Mt 24:31).

Particularly in view of all that both testaments affirm of the climactic day of the Lord, it becomes quite impossible, even exegetically dishonest, to try to separate the resurrection of the righteous from the tribulation of the half week in Daniel and Revelation. This is why those who believe the tribulation passed with 70 A.D., but believe the resurrection is yet future, are called ‘partial preterist’. In contrast, those who believe delete comma not only that the tribulation is past but that the resurrection is also past, call themselves “consistent preterist”, for good reason.
But before all the confusion and debate, it is plain for all to see what Daniel would have understood from his own prophecy. Go and learn what Daniel had inherited from the prophets that went before him, (add comma) who prophesied of these same events and goals of covenant and promise. For Daniel, the end of the 70 7’s could only mean one thing: add colon the end of gentile domination over captive Israel and the long expected (rightly expected) “post-tribulational” kingdom of God on earth. To suppose otherwise exposes a interested (unobjective?) bias, apparently formed by presumptive prior conclusions. It is not enough to say that this was merely the immature hope of OT believers, since the basic order is clearly re-affirmed in the NT (Mt 24; Mk 13; Lk 21: Acts 3:18-21; Ro 11:25-29; 2Thes 2; Rev 6-20).

This has gotten too long for any but the most patient and determined, but you see my point. The neglect to follow through on the Lord’s prescribed means of ‘understanding’ is not, of course, a blanket panacea against every possible form of deception, but it is going to be necessary. It is necessary now, not only for preparation against the ultimate deception, but for the much fuller picture of the overall context of the gospel, what I like to call, “the glory of the story”.

It will be required of the church….or will it?. This raises the crucial question of the relation of the rapture to the resurrection of the OT saints, another example of separating what God has joined. This squabble of comparatively recent origins significantly appears just in time to stand between a complacent Laodicean church and readiness to be those ‘maskilim’ who have the key of interpretation that can instruct many and turn many to righteousness (Dan 11:32-33; 12:3).

That this task should be delegated to a company that has only recently come to faith (no need for elders?) defies the biblical conception and definition of the body of Christ. It especially defies Paul’s definition of the church (defined as the corporate assembly of regenerate saints), as “the pillar and ground of truth”.

Once the context has been restored, we can begin to ask the very important question of the church’s role, and of what God has invested in granting the last sufferers a very certain and definite knowledge of the time. This will be a merciful provision intended to get the church to the place it needs to be for the ultimate witness. Thankfully, prophecy assures us that “those having understanding” (the body?, of course the body!) will be ready.

Anyway, you get the idea. It’s a burden I have. I fear we get too taken up with all the details, as there are indeed crucial details, but not to the neglect of the more critical, life-saving basics, the plum line of holy simplicity that will bring us to an otherwise impossible unity, as we become more and more constrained, searched, pruned, and emptied by the ever clearer light of fulfillment that does not depend on getting it all right.

The great falling away is greatly facilitated by the church’s dereliction precisely here. For all the wrong reasons, though ordained as judgment, the church will not awaken to the truth of these things until the end is very near. But because judgment “must” begin at the house of God, and in no small part because of the testimony of the Spirit of prophecy, the sleeping Bride will awaken, and when she does, hallelujah, what a glory! It will be the sweetest bitter, as the Jew will see his Messiah shining through weak jars of clay, a sight they’ll not forget for a thousand years.

I have some thoughts… you know – like I told you in my text to you… I actually woke up, having a dream about you… and I think it was you – and maybe a couple of others, but for sure you. Actually, I don’t recall others; I do recall you. And I was reviewing with you things we already know, we’ve already shared on this. But as a result of that exchange in the dream, I woke up with a lot of really fresh thoughts, or I thought fairly fresh, on Daniel. And like I said – what did I say to you in my text?…let me just run that right by you…

Tom: You said, “I was talking to you about what Daniel would have inherited from the earlier prophets, and how this would have been interpreted in light of his questions and the new light he was receiving. Then, when awake, a whole bunch of things came pouring in that were really edifying, promising thought catalysts for big-picture thinking, which is kind of where the Lord has me lately.”

Yeah…yeah…OK, I want to kinda dial us all the way back. I thought one of the most rich times we had in our God’s Foretold Work, or whatever we’re doing there, out of Isaiah was when we were in the Servant Songs. No, excuse me… check. It’s comparative, it’s equal in terms of impact almost, but I meant to say in The Song of Immanuel. ‘Kay, Not Servant Songs, rich obviously very rich always. But this was The Song of Immanuel, which is, as you know, Isaiah 7 through I believe it’s 12. And that is an incredibly rich pocket because it also inherits from other…well not so much from other prophets – not to say that Isaiah was the earliest; he was not – but it inherits so richly from the Decalogue. But not only that, but particularly the history of promise and…’cuz it so much assumes – and unpacks, really – the mystery of the Man-Child. You know, the original seminal – what do you call it – the Proto-Evangel.

And so it so much assumes that this uh…cuz now you’ve come along – so when you deal with this cumulative progressive unfolding, where God is just opening up with this incredible mystery that runs along side the history of Israel, but before you even begin the history of Israel, you’ve already begun the history of the mystery, if I can say that.

So you’ve already got this incredible promise of the reversal of the curse – just for quick and easy shorthand, I like to call it the reversal of the curse. So you’ve got this seed from the woman’s line, therefore human, but so different from other humans, because anyone in a position to reverse a curse has to be someone, by logic, has to be someone not under it.

So already, you’re implying things about circumventing in some way, the fallen nature. Right? So, you’ve got an incipient or seminal concept of a reversal of the Fall that depends on not being under the sentence of it. Even Eve would have known, having just looked at nature around her, with the cataclysm of what’s taken place in the Fall, having been immediately present to observe the changes – in nature, in the animal kingdom. And who knows? Scripture’s not giving us a commentary. Just because we read of Abel and Cain…by no means suggests that that’s the first children they had. It may have been – I believe Cain was probably reasonably to be understood as the first male child – because of Genesis 4:1.

But anyhow, whether or not she had seen much from her own children, she knew enough to know they were in a fix, and it was something beyond anything that could be repaired. They saw death happening all around. They knew where it was going. They had already heard the certain promise of death. I mean, you gotta go back to the beginning and watch this thing, because what we know…the prophets were immersed – and all the saints of Israel were immersed in the story – the unfolding story in history of promise and covenants.
They didn’t divert their time like we do to so many things. I mean, that was…they lived before the glut of media and everything. They had nothing to do with their time, if they were godly at all, but to contemplate and recontemplate, gurgitate and regurgitate the promises and covenants and implications.

So I was thinking this morning…in fact one of things in my dream with you was Peter’s statement when he said “the prophets inquired and searched diligently”. And what Peter there makes clear is there were…what made this such a source of puzzlement was not just what they didn’t know but what they did know. What they did know made what they didn’t know so incredibly attractive that they were completely occupied with searching with what or what manner of time. But the thing they did know – I’m gonna to come to this – they knew the glory and exaltation of Christ, but they also knew, by Peter’s own statement, they knew His sufferings, and the glory that would follow. And they knew the suffering came first. Oh I know that’s ABC, but you almost have to sometime recall the ABC to go on.

And Jesus, you know, in His gentle but firm reprimand of the two, I guess it was two wasn’t it, on the road to Emmaus? – “O fools and slow of heart not to believe all that the prophets had written, how that Christ should suffer, of necessity, and then enter into His glory.” So you’re having…now this is written by Luke…I believe it’s 1 Peter’s obviously written by Peter…so we’re talking about some real common core things that were circulating and almost – if you look at Peter – it almost sounds like Luke 24, like the words of Jesus.

So these are things that Peter thought a lot about. And then Luke, of course, in his account in Acts…you would think, well he’s just being Lukan, but actually, when you read Peter, he’s actually probably pretty closely quoting Peter, when Peter says how that the prophets testified beforehand of the sufferings of Christ…oh excuse me, that’s 2nd, that’s 1st Peter 1:11…I’m talking Acts chapter 3, that the things which all the prophets said that Christ should suffer – that’s verse 18, 3:18 – He has so fulfilled. Repent therefore and so on…and all the things which are still in the balance, still the…he’s given us the “already”, the unexpected “already” of the suffering Messiah, but now he’s giving us the “not yet” of the restitution of all things which all the prophets … of course, he means by that the Day of the Lord, the post-tribulational Day of the Lord.

That’s the big thing that all of revelational… you know, the basic…that’s what the whole book of Revelation’s about – the Day of the Lord. Why? Because we now know the mystery of a Lamb that was slain, who has all authority, who’s the…who is the curse-reversing Seed of the woman. We got that down. That has come, that’s been come for, that’s been sealed up…done deal. He’s ascended, He’s…you know, all that.

So, when you trace this promise back to what the prophets were contemplating – they knew that before ever a great king from David’s line could ever rule with a rod of iron out of Jerusalem, which was common-stock revelation right out of, right out of the Psalms…this is David, this is the Davidic covenant. But it’s also a corpus of Davidic promises. And then some of those reiterated – I think that Solomon wrote one of the psalms, didn’t he? Or some of them…and of course it’s carried on in the Davidic psalms, and even when David’s not writing the psalms, it’s so intimate with his tradition, that the sons of Asaph and all are echoing the same hope. And this is all – see now, I’m making a point of this – this is all before Isaiah comes along, with his glorious Song of Immanuel – Isaiah 7 through 12.

And then, as we recall, as you recall, when we were on that Isaiah track, we went right in to Isaiah 13, which is all about another…you know, here we had the Day of the Lord in Isaiah 2 – Jerusalem has become a harlot, etc. – and now we jump into the Day of the Lord again in Isaiah 13, and we’re dealing with the mystery of iniquity and they ask in the ultimate, in chapter 14, of Satan’s bid for the holy mount of God, and we got…So the whole issue of not just a day of the Lord, that would come in the imminent invasion of Assyria, but we begin to see sort of, multiple days of the Lord, ‘cuz even Isaiah is aware of a day of the Lord beyond the Assyrian invasion. He is aware, within his own body of prophecy. And this is early on, and even things that are credited to Isaiah, even by unbelieving…He is aware of a future Babylonian…you know, he mentions the…what is it? Who was with Cyrus? Not the Persians but the dual empire…[Tom: the Medes] The Medes…they were…the dual kingdom.

So here Isaiah’s jumped all the way from the imminent Assyrian threat – which would take away 10 tribes – to the Babylonian threat, and even to Babylon’s, and even beyond that, to a deliverer named Cyrus, and it’s so rich when you see these guys could not have been unaware of a long time. Not just a day of the Lord that’s gonna come and finish this right away, and “Oops, that wasn’t it, so now let’s talk about”…
It didn’t work that way. They saw the multiple layers. We can show evidence. It takes a little time. It’s an enterprise I’ve never set upon, but we can show from Scripture the necessary layers and what they would have understood necessarily from their own prophecies, that this wasn’t gonna just come and be finished right away. We were gonna be visited with the powers of that Day of the Lord. It was going to prevail, and take away 10 tribes, but there would be a remnant, thus and so. Now with Jerusalem threatened, and some real loss there, but Jerusalem survives and they escape, and we’re seeing, “Okay, that wasn’t the Day of the Lord; it was a threat”, but, they keep moving the Day of the Lord ahead.

But my point is they were conscious of that moving the Day of the Lord ahead. So they had to be conscious of a Day of the Lord that wasn’t just gonna come and suddenly finish it. And even the way the prophets would speak about the Day of the Lord as imminent, near, at hand…so many metaphors, or what’s the word?…All the references to an imminent Day of the Lord, which prophets living 150 years after an earlier prophet who spoke of it as imminent, as near, at hand, about to break upon us – they’re still speaking about it, and they’re very aware of a prophet a century and a half removed from them earlier, who had used that same language of a day of the Lord that didn’t come and complete itself in that earlier time.

So the prophets are used to this… you know, this phenomenon of near and far that we’ve spoken of. But they’re also used to this unique kind of biblical view of chronology, where there’s this ultimate climax that concludes history. But it has a tendency, or it can visit history at times with all of the claim and all of the judgment, and all of the terror of that Day. Just like the Lord can come and bring the blessings of that coming Day in a firstfruit, in an earnest. He also has brought, many times, the threat, and the terminalness of that climactic day as it would impinge upon a generation that had sunk particularly low in its moral defection from God, and had by that defection had brought near the day of the Lord in its judgments and in its terrors, although they might actually be overwhelmed by an invading Gentile nation or whatever, or come under plagues, and judgments and so forth. And yet it would not be the finality of the Day of the Lord.

So you have this amazing…but I mean, I’ve heard people touch on this, but I’ve never seen a work that really takes the time to prove these incredible nuances, [gap]… the affect of the Day of the Lord. And you have that with the promise. For example…in a….first, it was Joshua and Zerubbabel, the high priest…and the royal seed, the governor, Zerubbabel. They come back with what was it? 42,000 or something. They immediately recover the altar. The temple begins to be built, or…it was a construction that would soon be suspended and checked, or it would be stopped by the enemies. And it would wait – 15 years later they would resume that.

But all that was a “day of small things”, right? They had a consciousness, when they went back – and we can question whether or not they would have had the book of Daniel, ready to hand. I don’t know – they may have, they may not have. We don’t find, as far as I know, direct reference to Daniel. So it’s possible…this is days when you didn’t have the printing press and whatever…so the book of Daniel had not been…But in any event, here they are, back in the land, and then they would be followed later, of course, by Ezra, and still later, by Nehemiah, right? This is the…and it was presented as a day of small things.
They would speak about imminent revival, they would speak about an imminent restoring of the temple and the sacred institutions of covenant. And they had a little revival, but they were all conscious and aware that this revival would give way to apostasy and an ultimate Day of the Lord. Right in the prophets! In the very prophets of the revival – Haggai and Zechariah, and then later, Malachi probably had time to already see the real setting in of apostasy. But these were…and there was a mixed group, and there was definitely need for repentance and strong prophetic censure and so forth in the reforms that Nehemiah or Ezra particularly was imposing.

But the point of it is, there was a lot of encouragement. There was a little rejoicing. What is this but a real installment on the promise of Jeremiah that you’ll go home after 70 years. And when you go back, even though you will not be fit to inherit the full golden era of the reign of Messiah, and as they conceived of it, of an abiding possession of the land by an all-holy nation, still, you’re gonna go back, you’re gonna have a day of small things, there’s gonna be some reviving.

And then Daniel’s gonna tell us, that you’re gonna be there for a long time. There’s gonna be a complete age of Gentiles, that’s gonna be at least 490 years, from the time the decree is given to restore and build Jerusalem. From that decree, you’re talking 490, in your own conceptual universe – you know, their expectation. They’re not seeing, you know, they’re not seeing dying Messiahs, and they’re not seeing, you know, gaps or any other thing. What they’re seeing is 490 years, and the exile’s over. Now we’re in the land, but most of our people are not even here, nor will they ever be reunited with us here, and come out of exile.
So in a way, even when you have them in the land and they’re under a suzerainty or a tribute to some great Gentile power, be it Persia, or later, Rome or whatever, there’s still, in a way of speaking, an exile, even in the land because they’re conscious that the larger part of what is promised, of the reuniting of the scattered tribes is clearly waiting what they all clearly expected continually – that tribulation, that would be the climactic final time of a final Gentile aggressor. And when an end would be made of him, and Messiah would be back to rule on David’s throne for a thousand years, okay then, now we’ve got the promise. And with that, Daniel’s gonna say you’ve also got a resurrection from the dead, you’ve got…Isaiah’s gonna say that too – Isaiah, in Isaiah 26, you’re very well aware, says that when Israel’s getting raised and restored, and the final Gentile aggressor is being…his yoke is being broken, well then, my dead body’s gonna rise with yours.

And this is at the end of the time when the woman has been in travail, has, you know, been in great trouble. And the indignation is overpassed, and the earth is no longer covering up its slain. Well, all this is language for resurrection, which was not new even to Isaiah ‘cuz he knew that even Job had spoken about his resurrection in the latter day, when by the way, he would see his Redeemer’s feet, literally saying, “I will see His feet standing on the earth.” And where does He stand on the earth? – Zechariah 14.

My point here is that these prophets all knew this earlier repository of Hebraic faith and expectation. These guys were not, you know, just writing their books out of the blue. But one thing I do want to say, they were amazing in one thing: they were terse and let’s call it chaste. They were…there was a chastity about what they commented on, what they extrapolated. Who of us could write a revelation without adding our interpretations and applications and so on. These guys kept it. You know they inferred and considered and contemplated much beyond the text. But they kept it to the text. What the Lord gave, they gave – even when they would puzzle over what they were giving. They gave what the Lord gave.

And you can see that with Daniel. There’s no way that Daniel, in light of what he had inherited, (and I’m coming to this in a minute)…that in light of what Daniel’d inherited, there’s no way that he didn’t make inferences, extrapolations, and build even perhaps, and more than anything, probably…I mean he very probably built expectations…that we don’t have written. We don’t have Daniel chapter 13, or whatever else.

So these guys…all we know is from the testimony of the New Testament, that says they all pored over these things, they puzzled over these things. What were they doing? They were putting pieces together, and I think they put a lot of pieces together. There were explicit Scriptures mentioning…that add up to one thing: the necessary death of Messiah. Not just because of Isaiah 53 verse 8. Not just because of Daniel 9:26, or of a psalm, in a rich typology, or of an afflicted Joseph being typified in the piercing of Messiah. All that’s there. And then the smiting of the Judge – which has capable alternative interpretations, but which one pretty much beginning to see the necessary suffering of the Messiah, particularly at the hand of His own nation.

You could begin to put those pieces together, but my point is, even without those, you still had what you would call the theological logic of the necessity of a dying Messiah, someone who would occupy a substitutionary suffering role that would bear the brunt – or I call it, taking the “hit in the heel”. The hit in the heel of Messiah. He takes the hit, and now because of that hit He bears, He is able to reverse the curse for everyone else.

And we’ve talked about this before. You know, even Abraham and his contemplations of what it would take – “If I’m going to go into a land…I mean, I’m going to die at a good old age, and my boy, who hasn’t even got here yet (I’m thinking of Genesis 15). He’s coming along…we’ve already seen, it’s gotta be him, it can’t be…he’s going to come along, and he’s going to go into another nation, apparently with his family or whatever…and they’re gonna come out after 400 years.” The nation, of course, proved to be Egypt. Now, if this is…now you know, I know our liberal critics, they don’t want this to be Abraham actually believe…But we know very well, and have an unswerving conviction that Abraham was being…that he was in a unilateral covenant as unasleep??? 21:15 with God. He was learning about the distant migration, exodus and re-exodus of his people back out of this foreign land, with great substance.

And then He turns around and says, “Now take this boy, and you go ahead”, and when he arrives – this is chapters later – now the boy has shown up, little miracle boy is here. “But take miracle boy and let’s go over here, and let’s sacrifice him.” And already he’s saying, “Me and the lad are going over here. We’ll be back. He knows very well that his God is a God who raises the dead, and this young boy can’t die – he can die, but he can’t stay dead – because he’s got to have a family down in Egypt, and not only is he coming back to this land to inherit it forever, with this boy, I will inherit it forever.

What could that be? I just leave it to your imagination. Of course Abraham is expecting that this is the seed of the woman! Eve expected…she was wrong in who she thought it was, but she was right in her expectation – that “a man, even the Lord”, not just someone from the Lord, or with the help of the Lord, like our translators, you know, try to helpfully supply – they think they’re helping. But this, clearly in the text, jumps rightly – “I’ve gotten a man, the Lord.” That’s all it tells you. And you could even have put in the word, “even the Lord”, or “with the help…”…you can mess with it all you want. But she knew someone unique, and therefore, I would submit, Divine. Someone that was more than mere man, would be…and these are people who had inherited…what we learned later…they had all kinds of tradition, and…not tradition that was handed down, but I mean immediately, they knew, they knew the conversation with Satan, they knew implications that the later prophets suggest, like we were touching in our conference there in Ohio – Ezekiel and others, Satan’s aspiration for the mount of God and all that. Where could that have come from but Adam and Eve? Unless it’s just straight-out revelation.

I submit there is more of a body of understanding and tradition that they had access to. So when Even made that statement, “a man, even the Lord”, she knew this had to be someone who could take on the greatest angel of all except for God Himself. Well I won’t say the greatest angel, ‘cuz there’s Michael, and of course…But Jesus is no angel; He’s no created being. But I’m saying, someone’s taking on this mighty antagonist of God, that was so slick and cunning, that it could move Adam and Eve from their innocent trust into sin. I mean, this is…this guy knew stuff, and Travis is the best I know of on the planet to bring out what Satan necessarily conceived and knew and aspired. I mean, Travis’s work on that is brilliant. But they would have inherited that. That’s not something showing up in a biblical text that we look back and put pieces together. There’s a lot of things that Adam and Eve would have understood.
My point here is that someone that could take on angel – this is superhuman stuff; this is not just another person, or man or something – has to come and be born of the human line, out of the woman’s line. And why does it say “seed of the woman”? Already, we’re suggesting, something is bypassing the seed of man. And so, I mean…she’s having natural fertility with Adam, obviously, but she’s even now jumping the gun and assuming beyond, but she’s doing it on the basis of a good and sound expectation. “Something has got to be greater than us, that’s coming through us, that can reverse a curse of this magnitude.”

That’s big stuff, and this is what the prophets were all looking back to and expecting. So now we come to…we’ve seen Abraham. He certainly conceiving of this necessary curse-reversing seed, and he’s thinking “It’s gonna be this miracle boy”. Then he looks ahead, when the miracle boy is spared, and I think that it’s exactly there – you can take it, you can think otherwise – but I personally believe that it’s exactly there that he was able, through that very event – not through some premonition – but through that very event, he saw the One who would not be spared. “He looked ahead and saw My day”, Jesus says, “and rejoiced when he saw and was glad.”

Why? Because he saw that “It’s not my boy, but there was one come who will indeed do what I was thinking about my boy. My boy’s being spared. He is going down, and with my boy, and with His nation, and with me personally. We’re going to inherit this land in a way that dying people, that dead people can’t inherit.”
What’s he talking about here? Not one word about resurrection, but it’s all about resurrection. Well, the resurrection of Isaac was clearly inferred. We know that from Hebrews. But it’s all about the hope of resurrection.

But my point is, it’s the hope of resurrection predicated entirely on the expectation of the woman’s seed, who would be greater and unique from all other spawn and genera and natural procreation. You see what I’m saying? So, now you’re moving and now you’re picking up the promises of a Davidic king. We’re talking, no longer is it just the line of Abraham, not even Judah, now we’ve come to David, son of Jesse, stem out of the rod of David. So here’s Jesse, and he’s going to be the heir of all this. He’s got a covenant that his children, even if they break them… you know, all these glorious things about the…the already…the early intimations of an everlasting covenant, building and enlarging on the Abrahamic covenant.

Not a covenant without conditions, but a covenant that’s unilateral, in the sense that God Himself will see after the fulfillment of those conditions in a way that will not depend on man, in which already you have the seminal consciousness of grace and works. It’s the whole issue of God’s initiative, His prerogative, His grace, versus man’s ability to win the race, or keep up with the race.
So here is God taking these special initiatives, and demonstrating His whole character and nature through this nation to be set apart for Himself as a sign nation. They’re an object lesson nation. And so now you’re coming to Isaiah. Now we’re at where I wanted to go.

We’re at Isaiah’s Song of Immanuel, and Isaiah’s speaking about a current, imminent threat. You know the story there, Tom. Maybe you can jump in here, and just kinda set that up. But you know, there is an alliance between the king of Syria – not Assyria, but Syria – and of the Northern Kingdom, and they’re getting together, and they’re trying to coerce…which king was it? Was it Ahaz? They’re trying to coerce…who was the southern king? The northern king…you remember their names? [Tom: Rezin] Yeah, Rezin, which is the king of Syria, and who else was it? Remaliah, or, what’s his name? They got together…they’re trying to counter the Assyrian threat, and they try to coerce the southern king, which is Isaiah? – Isaiah’s a prophet who was in the very court of the southern kingdom of Israel. Isaiah 8 gives you the… right from the opening verses of Isaiah 8, I recall, is talking about the alliance, the attempt.
And so…what it’s all about is this imperilled the royal seed, the royal line. Now this is something I’ve learned from commentators. I didn’t spot it right off. So, I don’t ever fully trust this. But check…I consider it really probable. Commentators say what was really at stake here in the Song of Immanuel, was the threat to the royal line of David. Because Ahaz was not joining the confederacy, with Rezin and whoever the other northern king of the northern kingdom was. Because of that, and because he thought it was a failed project that would likely lose to the king of Assyria and then he’d be paying for it, as they would be paying for it, he didn’t want to get into it with them, if I recall.

And so, he, however gracefully or ungracefully, bows out, and then that threatens him, because now they’re going to lead a siege against him. So he’s not being immediately being threatened with Assyria, but he’s being threatened immediately with this alliance of the northern ten tribes of Israel with the king of Syria, who are trying to create – sorta, what is it…a buffer zone for a check of the expansionism of Assyria. Right? So these guys are getting together, and they’re gonna say, “We’re going to take it out on you, Ahaz. Your kingdom’s going down. You’re gonna be brought…you’re gonna be a conscript. You’re going to be brought into this alliance or you’re going to be conquered, as a result of your non-compliance.

Am I assessing it reasonably well there? And so, commentators tell us that what was really being threatened here was a tremendous danger and threat to the survival of the line of David. And here comes Isaiah with this bold prophecy. He’s gonna be very bold later with Hezekiah when he’s being threatened by Assyria itself. That’s way up around Isaiah…but, here we are, way back in the early goings of Isaiah’s prophecy, and he’s taking..uh, he’s inserting the word of God to this…isn’t it Ahaz, who is the king of the southern kingdom?

And Isaiah says… Isaiah challenges him, “Ask of God a sign.” Oh here’s an important part of this reflection. “Ask the Lord a sign.” Of course, he waxes pious and declines, in a way that very much grieves the Lord, of course. He gave him a choice, “Ask a sign.” And here’s the key word – this was pointed out to me by Spurgeon – ask the sign, but don’t just…this is not just any sign. This is a sign of such a magnitude, your little mind can roam from heaven to earth beneath. From heaven above to earth beneath, we want a sign, we want you to request a sign that really is a sign. You know, Isaiah would later talk about the sun moving – major sign.

And so he waxes pious and declines, really which was a statement, not of faith, but of unbelief. And Isaiah says, “Okay then, fine. The Lord Himself will give you a sign. He will… this virgin will conceive…and so many commentators, our anti-missionary Jewish friends and others will make great point of the fact that alternative Hebrew words and so forth, and they’ll make great point of the fact that he’s talking about a virgin visible, ready to hand, perhaps even his own wife, who had already brought forth children who had these prophetic names.

Such is that, but before this virgin will, before a child born to this young woman…they’re trying to reduce this prophe…this sign down to something very manageable, when God Himself is outdoing Ahaz, for what Ahaz declined to do, was to give a sign beyond the magnitude of anything…or up to and including anything he could think of, in heaven above or in earth beneath. Then God says, “I’m going to give you a sign.” You’re telling me the sign that God gives is just, okay here’s a local woman who’s young, and she’s gonna have a child, and before that child matures, this northern menace is going to evaporate. Right?… you’ll no longer be threatened. This is all going to blow over, Ahaz. It’s all going to blow over, before this child can choose the good and the evil, and eat honey and milk, or whatever. I have forgotten the prophecy exactly.

When really…look at this though…this is Isaiah! He’s expecting a curse-reversing seed of the woman on the throne of David. He’s expecting something of the magnitude of the One who will destroy the antichrist in Isaiah 11:4. He’s expecting someone of the magnitude who will rule out of a redeemed Zion – chapter 12. You see what I’m saying here? He’s looking for that one. And he’s saying, “Here’s the Lord’s sign to you!”

I’m saying to the anti-missionaries and the commentators, and all the guys, “Give me a break!” I’m saying that: “Give me a break!” This is…you’ve gotta go back and get what this prophet’s thinking. He doesn’t have a minimal God like you do, who can only work within the range of a closed system of cause and effect in nature like you do. He’s got a God, this is a God who raises the dead in Isaiah’s large, large faith. And he’s looking for a sign on the magnitude of something above or heaven beneath, and he’s saying, “It’s invested in this woman…who’s gonna have a child, and this is gonna be the Son of David, who’s gonna reverse the curse. And how can you reverse it unless there’s a wound?…unless there’s a hit in the heel? Pick up here.

And Isaiah, I’m just putting this… I’m gonna talk about this up here in Isaiah 40 through 53. We’re gonna get to this curse being reversed, and we’re gonna find out it’s all about the smiting and despising of your..of My own nation. And we’re gonna find out that He was cut off from the land of the living. But He doesn’t stay cut off – He rises and He sees His seed, and the pleasure of the Lord prospers in His hand.
What is this but the sin-reversing curse, born from the woman’s seed, born from David’s line, born of a virgin. You see the logic? It’s a theological logic! It’s not just about battling tit-for-tat over every little exegetical nuance in all these passages.

There is a great case that can be made. I recommend a book by Walter Kaiser called Messiah. I recommend the wonderful work of Michael Brown and others who argue pantheist versus alma? and all the different…I can’t even correctly, all the different things, and you can make a case – it’s a good and reasonable case.

But I’m saying if all that fell short, what doesn’t fall short is the theological necessity of a woman’s child who is out of David’s line, who has bypassed the Fall, and the power and curse of the Fall, whose able to reverse the curse, which means taking on the great dragon, that began this whole problem, through his seduction of the first pair.

Major stuff here! So let’s get on the scale of Hebraic magnitude, and get off this limited…you know…trucking along here with these imaginative apocalyptic scenarios that really, you don’t really believe, because if you…these prophets really believed this.

So now we’re coming to Daniel. Now, and so we’re talking about this day of small things and yet we’re looking for a day of the Lord. We’re always looking for this great, climactic, final Day of the Lord – now, the Old Testament wouldn’t use language like mystery of iniquity, we’ll leave that to Paul. But they understood very well that this final aggressor would try to take the holy hill of God.

And while he’s in the attempt of doing that, the Lord’s going to come back to Zion, and rule and reign. You know,…and Israel will be at the end of their power. Moses said there’s a tribulation coming when they’ll seek Me with their whole heart. Then I’ll circumcise their heart, and then and only then, because there’s not just a meagre little remnant, but because the nation’s wholly born in a day. Then we’ll have the land forever.

So all these prophets are not looking for just…they’re looking…Isaiah will talk about a new heavens and new earth. But they would not distinguish; they would blend all that. What they would see very clearly, and beyond gainsay, they would see a climactic transitional tribulation, that would be…they’d lived in tribulation. They knew their people were appointed to tribulation. They knew they were under a time of the heel of the Gentiles. Not just with Rome, but for a long time. And that would continue until we can call it the redemption, or the end of the Gulag, the end of the exile.

And so, all the prophets are waiting for that transition at the Great Tribulation, a tribulation significantly like no other, and that would end in nothing less, and short of the climactic, age-ending Day of the Lord, resurrection of the dead, destruction of Antichrist, and so on. Out of Zion would rule a King for a thousand…with a rod of iron. Nothing said yet about a thousand years. Everything they’re putting, though, is significantly on the other side of that tribulation. Israel’s delivered at the end of the worst tribulation in history. They all knew that; that’s common stock.

Now they knew that when that takes place, that the King from David’s line, He is…let’s say, “Up and at ‘em!” He is risen, whatever He…whenever and wherever He died, or may have died, whether in the last battle with Gog, as some have said, or whenever they, wherever they put that…and this is what I’m coming to. If they put that death anywhere besides right at the very end, which is where I suspect most prophets probably put it, and even good…some rabbis who weren’t so busy running…you know, in a reactive way to Christian apologetics or polemics, running the other direction, they even quite reasonably said, they expected a messiah ben Joseph to fall in the battle of Gog, and he would be raised by Messiah ben David. And they had a view of martyrs having a kind of an atonement quality. They had all kinds of notions of that. So they weren’t too far from conceding something of an atonement-like nature connected with, not necessarily with the one Messiah who had come twice, but with a messiah figure, who would be raised. So they had concepts like that. So things are there.

But what probably would have been seen by a John the Baptist, who said “You’re the Lamb of God”, or by a Simeon, was that after a ministry of division – I want to really, really stress that – the Messiah’s ministry would be like Moses said: people would be cut off from the nation in relation to what they did with this prophet. This is not just another prophet; this is decisive. True, in some sense of other prophets, but this is the…”Are you that prophet?” they would ask John. The people at least, at that time had a clear conception of someone who was not the Messiah, who was not Elijah, but was that prophet.
So they didn’t know how to put all this together, but one thing they knew about that prophet, he would have a ministry of division. So Simeon said, “This child is set for the fall and rise…”. John the Baptist would say “the Lamb”. You’re gonna get yourself in a lot of trouble, and your own nation is going to despise you. And… it says that in Isaiah, your own nation will abhor you and hate you. And you’ll be rejected, and you’re gonna die in that.

But the thought that death would be preceded, at some great distance from the resurrection, was probably very, very unclear. I mean very unclear, because they knew you were going to die, but for all they knew, you’ll get up pretty quick after that, and when you get up, watch out! Goodbye Antichrist, goodbye enemies, everything. But you are going to die!

And the prophets intimate – more than intimate – they say, “You’re going to die at the hands of your own people.” They’re the ones…it’s not the nations out here that are hating you; it’s your own guys. So the prophets are already anticipating John chapter 1, when “He came to His own, and His own received Him not”. And we can, at some opportunity, go back and try and ferret out and pull out those particular prophecies. But, it would be His own people not some invading force that would smite the Judge of Israel. It would be His own people…it would, they would pierce Him…and that’s why they would have this incredible repentance. So this incredible mystery is being laid out, here a little and there a little, all throughout the prophets.

The glory of this mystery is that when you look back in light of the revelation of the mystery of the gospel, the whole landscape lights up in the face of Christ. It’s glorious! Everywhere you look, it’s Jesus! Everywhere you look, it’s a two-coming, twice-coming, necessarily dying, necessarily rising Messiah.

And you can debate whether there’s a gap between, or whatever, but one things for sure: this…and now, even before you get there, this is someone who’s been…somehow he has to be on earth, to brought up in the clouds of heaven, to ascend to the right hand of God, where He occupies that session. This is that interim. So now, you even begin to see, when you come along to Daniel, you find out about a Messiah the prince, that will be cut off.

Now here’s what I’ve laboured all this to say: now, with all this in mind, now I’m coming to where I was in my dream with you, Tom. And that is, what would Daniel…now Daniel, like we said, he’s chaste, he’s not going to tell you more than the Lord gave. But how could he not have, in reflection of his own prophecy, in light of what he’d inherited from other prophets, how could he not have thought, that, if you’re going to talk about the end of the times of the Gentiles, when all this exilic suffering for his people will be over once and for all, if you’re going to talk about that, how can you not conceive of it in light of a sin-reversing seed of the woman?

Would Daniel not have read Isaiah, like we are pretty well assured Isaiah…we can make the case how Isaiah would have conceived, how Isaiah would have read. And Daniel would have conceived and read less than that? No, Daniel knows about a virgin-born, sin-reversing…he’s just not filling his pages with his own commentary. That was not his job, and the Divine superintender of this progressive mystery made sure, that had anyone had an impulse like that, you know, it would be lost, or whatever.

In other words, all we know is what God gave these writers. And that is something…interesting consideration! I mean, take that in. With all the commentary you would have expected these men of already-recognized authority to have added, it doesn’t survive to this day. It didn’t get added. So, God is literally preserving a mystery that He’s really requiring that His maskilim wrestle and deal with, and piece it together with trembling, and guarded care, and not haste, and not…you know, presumption – just delicately. And the prophets wrestled, and contemp…and meditated.

So here’s Daniel. Now he sees – my point is he sees this son of Man that comes…before He comes in clouds of heaven, as we know from Acts 1:11, Revelation 1:7, Acts 3:21…before He comes back in the way you saw Him go…Daniel 7 doesn’t emphasize that so much. Daniel 7…you know…’cuz we’re going to come to this thing about the 490 years that were he expected??, but Daniel 7 is going to take us up to the throne. He comes…I used to really struggle with this, because our Amill friends would make much of the fact “You pre-mills want Him to come down in clouds of heaven. ‘Cuz Jesus wants you…pre-mills…they would object and say, “You guys want Him to come with the clouds of heaven, and rule all nations, and all that. But we’re going to point out to you that He comes up to heaven in the clouds of heaven, and that’s where His kingdom is, out of heaven.”

Well before you come back in clouds, you first have to go up in clouds. And the point of Scripture is, He goes both ways in the clouds. It’s a…you know, an up-and-down motion. He goes up, as the ascended, now-to-be-glorified Son of Man at the right hand, to take His place, according to the prophecy of
David – at the right hand of God, expecting…expecting what? Till He would come back and destroy the Antichrist with the breath of His lips, until His enemies be made His footstool, and not just for Him spiritually, you know.

But yet there is this spiritual dimension which is precious. It’s Yea and Amen. And we’re never denying that, but our replacement friends latch hold of the spiritual side, and they conveniently…I think rather, you know…carelessly throw out the physical, and they don’t see a necessity of return, or a kingdom on earth, and particularly with regard to Israel. So they eviscerate. They, they, they just, you know, omit, throw out, toss out…all that – I think rather flagrantly. But they preserve, thankfully, the spiritual revelation of a precious presence of the kingdom, of a precious access to the Holy Spirit, and of the life of the age to come.

So they’ve got…we’re right with ‘em. We’re standing right with them in the “already”. But they want us to toss out the “not yet”. They want to have a very barren or a very sparse “not yet”, of just a return of Christ, and just, you know, burn up the earth and start the new heavens and new earth. And so they’re committed to a new creation, but they don’t want to think in terms of a creation where God vindicates something with Israel or…In other words, they take all the prophecies of the Day of the Lord and the things that follow the Day of the Lord, and they radically reinterpret and spiritualize that, on the basis of a few questionable interpretations from the New Testament.

But if they ever stood with us, in our understanding of a necessary tribulation that centres on Israel, not just a tribulation that envelops the earth in massive destruction. That’s not how the prophets conceived of it. It would get to that stage, but before it did, it would start in Jerusalem.

So I think one of the key things, the most defensible things of our whole position, and something that should – rightly – buy us, or “inform” is a better word, how we read those questionable New Testament texts that our replacement friends are, you know, overloading or underloading, with implications for Israel, and for a future Day of the Lord that would answer to the prophetic perspective and the expectation of the Hebrew prophets. They weren’t wrong about everything; they just didn’t know everything. There were things that would come into better light, but that didn’t mean the complete removal of what they fully expected. It simply means the addition and the enhancement of this wonderful mystery that would show us this age between and its implications. They never…never does it discard or throw out. You’re still waiting for a restitution of all things, a return to Zion. You’re still waiting for a Jerusalem to be trodden underfoot, and the Deliverer to come Zion. You’re still waiting for all this.

So it’s a tragic misstep to take what the prophets didn’t know, that came to light in the gospel, and use that as an instrument to completely, you know, dismantle all that they fully and rightly expected. So Daniel here, he’s waiting for, in the days of these ten kings, which by the way, John knew…even as late as wherever you put the book of Revelation. I put in at 96, they put it at 66. But wherever you put the early or late date, it doesn’t matter. John is aware that a tribulation hasn’t started yet. It’s not this whole inter-advent period, because here he is, way into this period, and it hasn’t started yet, but…and an Antichrist hasn’t come yet. We’ve got a bad guy now, he’s on the scene. But the really bad guy’s still ahead, and when he’s gonna come, he’s gonna continue for a short space, and his days…in the day’s of this last beast, the ten kings, which are his immediate contemporaries.

So Daniel says, the kingdom’s gonna come on earth, we’re gonna be done with our Babylons and our…you know, our Romes, and our Greeces and all these guys. All the Gentiles, they’re gonna be done…we’re gonna be done with them, in the days of these ten kings. Well where are these ten kings? They’re the ones who are contemporaries with the Beast, the Beast that’s going to get his body put in the burning flame (Daniel 7:11), in Revelation 19:20, at the end of this age, at a place…you know, right around the Armageddon time. And then’s gonna begin a thousand years.

But when does that thousand years begin? According to John in his revelation, according to Daniel, it’s in the days of these ten kings. I say ten. It says, it says in Daniel 2 verse 44, “the days of these kings”, but it is a necessary inference, not just one that you might make, but one that you really should make – that the ten kings in Daniel 7 are shown to be contemporaries with the little horn. And the little horn in Daniel 7 and 8 is the same Antichrist that we’re looking at up here in Paul and John and Jesus in the New Testament.

So, to not see these things are really…it’s really not sophisticated academics. This is basic Bible reading, comparing Scripture with Scripture, accessible to any lay student of Scripture. This is not rarified, academic hard stuff. It’s basic stuff. But these presuppositions build up.

But I want to come back to Daniel now. So Daniel is looking for, “When’s all this exile gonna end? When are we gonna have the Gentile heel off our neck? When is the kingdom of David gonna be here?” Well, we know from Jeremiah and others, it’s got to come after this unequalled trouble. But until that unequalled trouble comes, way down at the end of the 490, we’re gonna have this long period of time, and we might have a little revival at the beginning, but we’re gonna sink into an apostasy. Zechariah, the very prophet of revival, was telling us, you know, “Let’s have a day of small things. It’s a little reviving, but let’s look ahead, let’s be a little realistic here. We’re going to have our houses rifled, our women will be ravished. The Day of the Lord’s coming, and it’s not coming ‘cuz we’re in the heyday of our piety, but we have sunk to a low ebb in our impiety and in our covenant defection. And the Day of the Lord comes upon a truly apostate Israel, excepting, of course, the ever-present remnant.

But here comes the Day of the Lord. I mean, the remarkable thing. Malachi is a major prophet of the Day of the Lord. Haggai doesn’t use the term “Day of the Lord”, but he talks about the shaking of all things…you know, and a greater house than the one that was about to be built. I don’t think he was…I may be wrong in that – but I don’t want to try to overload this.
Let me get back to the simple part that really will light things up for us. So Daniel comes along, he’s seeing the days of these ten kings, he’s seeing this Antichrist, he sees a Messiah who’s first gone up, who obviously has to come down to destroy this man. He knows that from Isaiah. Paul quotes Isiaah 11 verse 4 in the Septuagint translation -perfectly says that no one less the Messiah Himself destroys the Antichrist, the ungodly one, and it’s talkin’ about a personal individual, not the wicked in general. In the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, which is what Paul’s using, he applies it to the Antichrist. It says, “then shall with the breath of His lips, He shall, He will destroy the UO, Ungodly One”, and Paul says in Second Thessalonians, “then shall that capital W, uppercase W, Wicked be revealed.”

We’re talking about an individual. We’re not talking about just about the destruction of the wicked in general. This is the final aggressor. This is the one that Daniel sees. They all knew this. So, Daniel sees that the days of these 10 kings are obviously going to be contemporary with this final aggressor, after which Israel will be liberated, and all the promises of lying down safely, the children of wickedness no longer afflicting them as beforetime, all that would now come to fulfillment. And the rod-iron rule of the King, of the greater Son of David…

I mean, if Jesus is saying to ‘em, “Whose son is David’s?”, don’t think that men of Daniel’s stature wasn’t thinking, “Wait a minute. Who is David’s son, if he’s his Lord?” That’s not original with Jesus! That was in glorious, perfect wisdom, put by Jesus to His peers and contemporaries, but you can believe very well, these guys had an upper story contemplation of these incredible aspects of this mystery.
So he’s looking for One who ascends, and if He ascends, and we’re talking about a kingdom on earth, over all languages and tongues, and it’s gonna be here in the place the stone’s gonna hit, and it’s called this earth under (underline under), under the whole heaven, not off in an ethereal???..but what the Hebrews expected – the kingdom of God on earth – if he’s looking for that, then he’s looking for the return of the King. Now, that’s just there. It’s just in the text.

And now, that he invested all that with what we so well see in retrospect – of the ascended, suffering Seed of the woman, who’s taken the hit in the heel. He’s gone now, up in clouds, to the right hand of the Majesty on high, waiting for that interim, you know. If we could understand that, I don’t think that Daniel had a problem with at least conceiving that. Just ‘cuz we don’t have his own…Daniel’s commentary, doesn’t mean these men weren’t right on top of a lot of this. Now, there’s plenty there to puzzle about! But also, there was an awful lot to know.

And um, so here is this Son of man ascending, and clearly, He doesn’t stay there. He rules on the earth, out of Zion. That’s gotta happen, and that doesn’t happen until He comes to destroy the Antichrist in the days of these kings (Dan. 2:44, Revelation 17) “The days of these 10 kings” – that puts it as contemporary with the final Beast, not a long line of beasts. So the days of these kings comes out of a…there’s a little horn that comes out of a fourth, and in his days, there’s ten contemporary kings he forces by conscription, 3 of them into the orbit of his power. And he takes his initiatives against Jerusalem and all that. That’s there. You see it in the New Testament. This is not…

I can’t get these guys who say when you come to the New Testament, there’s no mention of land. Oh yeah?! What’s Jerusalem? What’s Judea? What’s a temple of God, and where is it? Is it in Utah City? I mean, this is amazing, that we say there’s not a land issue in the New Testament, when the whole eschatology, not of the Old, but of the New, which is just a reiteration of the Old, puts it right at Jerusalem. Yes, there’s a tribulation that’s going to cover the earth, and destroy a multitude and all that. But that is later.
It all begins in Judea. It all begins there. You can show it. You can show that it clearly begins there…that Jerusalem’s a cup of trembling, the controversy of Zion. I think our strong point is to begin any discussion with our Amill friends and others is this is a Judeo-centric tribulation. It’s not an amorphous tribulation where bad guys chase good guys at the time of the end. That’s just not what the Scriptures present, it’s not what the prophets expected, it’s not what the New Testament expected. It’s not how Jesus, Paul, and John used, interpreted and applied Daniel. It’s just not. You have to take all kinds of license and liberties to not just put…they use these big words – intertextuality – well let’s be intertextual. Let’s look within the book of Daniel, how he is using it, how he understands it. Then let’s look if Jesus changes all that, or if Paul changes all that, or in fact, if they’re quoting all that, and applying it in a way that shows a completely common understanding with Daniel himself.

I mean this is the great fallacy of our time, and we’re just not close students. And we’ve taken liberties – well-intentioned – but because we’ve received these traditions from our mentors – some of them even led us to the Lord, they’ve discipled us, they’re a blessing. But we allow their influence to keep us from a calling to be the priesthood of every believer. I mean, God is going to hold you responsible, not for the good things, but for the bad things you took in with the good things, and never questioned, and never made sure of, and never proved it out in your own heart, and your own consulting of the Holy Spirit. You didn’t tremble at the text. You took a good man’s word for it. Well he, no question he’s a good man, but God’s gonna hold you accountable for your pick-and-choose approach to what you’re going to be responsible to make proof of. It says everywhere in the Scriptures, “Prove all things.” And “Study to show yourself…” not your mentor, but “show yourself approved to God.” And so, the confusion of good men, whom we’ve received so much good from, becomes one of the greatest snares to buy…to buy in to the whole thing.

Well, that’s a little aside, but…I’m just trying to cover some things, for the sake of future reference and notes, ‘cuz a lot of this, I have it written down. That’s why…I know you’re recording this, so I’m throwing a lot in there, in view of that, not that this would be viewed by anyone, but that I would have some notes to reference…some thought-starters.

So, we’re coming now to Daniel. I want to get to where I was with you in the dream. I’m just setting the stage – Daniel 7. This is the ascended, curse-reversing seed of the woman, has now accomplished what’s not written here in Daniel 7, but which is assumed, logically. But now you’re gonna have in Daniel 9 what is more than just assumed – it’s gonna be written, in the very language of Isaiah 53:8. Messiah…an anointed leader is one way it could be legitimately translated, but my question is, is that legitimate when you’re talking about Daniel, in his obvious retrospect view of a cumulative glorious implications of One who must conquer the serpent, through an atonement of Himself?

And you’re looking at what’s gonna end the exile. You’re looking at what’s gonna end the time of the Gentiles. You’re looking at what’s gonna bring the King back, as a risen Man to see His seed, to prolong His days…You’re looking at all that, and you’re not…and you’re telling me we can talk about an anointed prince, and he’s just Onias the Third, or somebody, as one of our own brothers said…way off up there in the future, as this is just an anointed…this is just some high priest or…No! Can’t be!

Now here’s what’s interesting. If He is Messiah the prince…and who else could He be?…and He’s cut off, and He’s the one who will see His seed, through whom the dead will rise, through whom Daniel (in Daniel 12:13) will rise, and through Whom Israel will be delivered, who, as we will learn later, will be the One who comes in clouds, to destroy the Beast and put his body in the burning flame (Daniel 11), this is end time stuff. Daniel knew all this.

So He’s got to be here, before, just at the end of the…Just remember this: whenever the tribulation ends, it’s going to end with several important things: the Antichrist is toast, the dead are raised, and the King from David’s line is ruling, not necessarily for a thousand…we don’t know that yet. We’re gonna find that out in Revelation 20. But He’s ruling over a restored, penitent Israel who’s narrowly survived, a remnant survived, a nation’s being delivered, born in one day…the iniquity of that land’s cleansed in one day…al this is coming. Daniel knew all this. And this is the one who is going to destroy the Antichrist with the breath of His lips and put his body in the burning flame…and Daniel’s already told us that in 7 verse 11. And John’s going tell it…reiterate the same thing in Revelation 19:20.

The point being, is you’re telling me we’re at the end of exile, and you know one’s got to come that Abraham and all of them expected – Isaiah expected – who is able to reverse the curse…and that only through a hit in the heel – and you’re telling me Daniel 9:26 is not about that anointed ruler? It’s not about that anointed king?

Again, give me a break. Just give me a break! You can conceive that; it’s just beyond me. This is not the way the Hebrew prophets were thinking; this is the way the moderns have conditioned moderns to think without thinking. They’re not tracing this back.

So all is to say, we’re coming to the New Testament – Simeon knew He had to die! John the Baptist knew He had to die! It was a rare few…Peter totally stumbled…couldn’t conceive of a dying Messiah. It was rare, but it was available. And we’re talking about that line of men for whom “available” was enough, for whom rare was not elusive, who saw the piecing together of this.

Now…what we’ve got then here is something very interesting. Here’s what was in my dream about. If Daniel’s seeing all this, and if he’s convinced, as I’m convinced that he was convinced, that Daniel 9:26 – the Messiah that’s cut off there, is Je…is the sin-reversing, ya know, Son of David. Okay? If He’s that guy, then you’ve got an interesting point here. Daniel rightly could never have conceived of a two-thousand year interim, between the ascension, which he did see, and could very well, though I’m not putting this in his mouth, but I have a hard time seeing that Daniel did not contemplate the psalms. If you’re going to have one who is going to ascend, and yet that one’s gonna destroy an Antichrist, and put his body in a burning flame at the end of an age, at the time of His rule over a restored Zion, then who ascend’s got to come back. And, why, then, wouldn’t that interval be the time at the right hand of God…in a priestly role, like Melchizedek?

This is the eternal Son of God! David’s Son, David’s Lord, the union of the Divine and the human. This is the man, even the Lord. This is the Man-Child, this is “the virgin will bear a son”, and that Son will be God Almighty.. you know, all that. Those are not just names; those are titles of Deity because this is the Son of God ‘cuz He’s born uniquely. The word monoganeis in Greek, in John’s gospel – uniquely begotten, the One born like no other. The One Who bypasses the Fall and the curse, that doesn’t come under the curse of sin, Who does nothing of His own, but only what He sees and hears. That’s the One!
And I believe they thought of that, knew that…Jesus was the One that had the complete clarity and custodianship. He knew all that – “By His knowledge, He would justify many.” He would guard that secret until the appointed time of revelation. The demons couldn’t know, they couldn’t read His mind. His mind was not accessible to demons, except what they would learn second-hand through His words or the understanding of some other. He was altogether apart. I mean, we know that. But we’re talking now what limitations…I’m just saying it’s reasonable that Daniel could have inferred – reasonably inferred – that this One who ascends up in the clouds to take His place at the…is going to the right hand, from which He will come again, to destroy the Antichrist.

I have no problem seeing Daniel at least conceiving that. But here’s the catch: if Daniel doesn’t see a long gap, and there’s no ground or basis by which he would necessarily see any gap, between the end of the 69th…He’s cut off after threescore, but yet He’s not ruling and reigning until the 70th 7 is completed, three and a half years after an abomination and a destruction of Antichrist. That’s when Daniel’s people would be delivered, Michael stands up, and Daniel is raised from the dust, etc.
So…you see this, we’re looking closely here…this is amazing stuff. You’re dealing with a seven-year interval between the death of the Anointed One and His resurrection. Well, bodies kind of rot in 7 years. You see what I mean? But not if they’re taken up. You could’ve conceivably conceived – conceivably conceived – of a 7-year interval at the right hand of God, during which time, you know, He’s waiting for the Antichrist to reveal the mystery of iniquity. You could have moved from the resurrection…and I like to say, in retrospect, one of my great arguments is, as much as we can show, and we can – I know this is disputed – but I believe, beyond gainsay, we can show that the 70th week, especially without gainsay, the last half of that week of the 70th week, the last 3 ½ years, concerns the mystery of iniquity, it concerns the Antichrist, and that’s what brings us to the end of the times of the Gentiles, and the kingdom of God coming in the days of these kings.

Now, if that’s true then, you could no more have the 70th week, or let’s at least say the last 3 ½ years, follow the 69th week in unbroken succession then you could the advent and career of the Antichrist follow immediately upon the death of Jesus – the death of Messiah. It’s illogical. You can’t. And so, only if, the only way you could do something like that….this is probably what Daniel might have considered…is if, Messiah is, when He’s cut off…He’s got to rule and reign out of a resurrected body, but He goes back to heaven, then He receives His body, as John the Baptist might have considered, this Lamb is going to die and not receive His body at the same time Daniel’s receiving his.

I’m just suggesting. I’m just throwing out absolute…I mean by getting a little bit speculative here, and venturing some inferences that might reasonably be shot down, and found, you know, unjustified, don’t let that lose sight of what is so clear! – that Daniel would have understood this death of this Messiah to be the seed of the woman. And this is the One through whom, and by…because of Whom we will have an end of the times of the Gentiles, we will have and end of the Antichrist…and end to perversity and evil, and the kingdom of God come on earth. It’s gotta come through this man. And who could this be but the seed…you know…let’s call Him the curse-reverser, from David’s line. The curse-reverser! This is something that is just lost.

I remember years ago when I saw the….there’s a New Testament scholar – massively educated – in New Testament theology, knows it inside out, as well as Christians could ever know it, except one problem: he doesn’t believe it. And…he believed actually amazingly, a lot more of it than you’d imagine. It’s Pinchas Lapid, and he’s gone on now. But who is still living, thank God, is our beloved brother, Walter Kaiser. And Walter Kaiser debated Pinchas Lapid on the John Ankerberg Show, something all of you should check out – it’s on YouTube. Amazing exchange!

But I never will forget – at the time I did not pay much attention to it – but Lapid, in his shrewd anticipation of where Christians would want to go with this, had the most studied avoidance of any implications of the snake. I mean, he kept saying, “the snake, the snake”. Only later would I realize why. He knows what Genesis 3:15 means for Christian theology. And as a Jew, he didn’t want that to be enforced, and – what’s the word? – and leveraged. He did not want that leverage strengthening the argument.

But I will just say, Genesis 3:15 is not just a myth or something, it’s everything! It’s literally everything! It’s the seedbed of all promise, of all covenant, of all redemption, of all history. The kingdom of God is in it. Everything is in it. It’s the promise, and the mystery that the story of Israel will unpack, and draw to its glorious conclusion. No wonder Pinchas Lapid wanted to do everything he could to not be, you know, victimized by the implications about the snake. And he kinda made a tongue-in-cheek sport of the whole thing. The idea of the way Christians are so…you know, interested.
Yeah, I’ll give you that. We are very interested. They’re so interested in extracting what he thinks is not there to be extracted. In other words, we need to read all that into it, to have all the basis and implications of our Christian theology. No, that’s what was in the background of Isaiah’s Song of Immanuel. That’s what was in the background of David, and his conception of a Melchizedek priest, who would be the Lord of glory and come through his line. I mean, man, it’s all there! If you don’t have Genesis 3:15, you don’t have the Bible! So I could see why there’s a studied avoidance of the implications of that.

Now, we can go and argue tit-for-tat with the anti-missionaries, and get into that, and you might do some good with an innocent bystander, but you’d never penetrate their armour. But what you can do is make what I call the cumulative argument. You’d go, like we’ve done just now, of course you’d need to prepare, and make it a little simpler, easier to connect things better. We’re totally random here.

But if you go through, and put together the implications of the seed of the woman to the history of redemption, of what the prophets would’ve had to conceive, and understand of the necessary death of the Messiah. “Ought not Christ to have suffered…?” In other words, this was pivotal, very pivotal. Then you could make a case, and then one with a willing and open heart – and sometimes, as you know, Tom, that’s what we mean by “Apocalyptic Evangelism”, those heart aren’t so willing, and those hearts aren’t so open. But they can be made willing and they can be made open, usually through duress and crisis…and the whole theology of weakening and so forth that we have. You see what I mean?

But…but back to Daniel…now this is what I had, what I’d dreamed, as we were talking about, is that Daniel could very well have conceived of a short interim. Son of God goes to heaven…you know…Now we wouldn’t know about Pentecost being poured out. We wouldn’t…but the point of it is the victorious Ascender – call Him the victorious ascending…having accomplished the reversal through death. This is aft…this is post-hit. After the hit in the heel. Yet, 7 years later, Israel’s delivered. Where is He? Okay? Where is His body? Physical body.

I’m saying, as a Jew, what would you know? Would you know of the necessary preservation of a physical body? Maybe, maybe not. But you would have evidence is Scripture that He ascends. And the One who ascends’s got to descend…in the time when He will put His enemies down. But He, but why would He have ascended…at some time, not just from the beginning or back in antiquity, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting, this Bethlehem babe? This guys’s got to ascend, and when He ascends, He comes back.

And what would His coming back mean if He had not put away sin by the offering of Himself? Quote the whole New Testament, Hebrews, you name it. He’s at the right hand of God, having accomplished everlasting…the secret is revealed, this same Jesus is taken up. A few days before, “Will you at this time restore the kingdom?” Oh, on Pentecost, they weren’t asking that anymore! “Oh! We see! You’ve accomplished this! Your body didn’t see corruption. Oh, we see! You were pierced, You have ascended! You’re at the right hand, just like the prophets said. You’re coming again, the restitution of all things. You’re coming the second time without sin…on and on and on we could go.

The whole theology of the New Testament was present – certainly incipiently – at Pentecost. The questions that would have been legitimate before Pentecost were now non-questions. He’s accomplished this, He’s ascended there…When’s He coming back?” Well…somebody in the class could have spoken up and said, “Well, seven years from now, He’s coming back.” So you see where I’m going with this. Seven years from now, He’s coming back, but when He doesn’t come back, ah?! Then, you know, then we’re looking at…if you’re gonna come back in seven years, you need the Antichrist to come into the temple of God three and a half years after Jesus goes up.

Now, could we symbolize some of the this? Well, preterists, amills say, “of course we can, of course we must”. But let’s think about this…yet they, thank God, are quick to remind us, and use for their apologetics, the fact that the 69 7’s from the decree to the cutting off of Messiah, were literal. One of the great evidences is that Christ didn’t come and die 200 years after Daniel, or a thousand years, but He came approximately 4 ½ centuries after Daniel, after the decree, and about 5 centuries from the time of Daniel. So He’s right on time. Even if you give or take for some ambiguities, you’re still dealing with the Messiah who’s right on time, Luke chapter 3, “every man was in expectation”. That’s why they’re out there asking John all these questions. That’s why Jesus could reprimand them with such force. There was an indictment: “You don’t know the time of your visitation.”

I’ve heard argued, by a good chronologist, very conservative, and a very good one, that…and I’ve not read all his arguments, but he said it would have been very unlikely the Jews at the time of Christ would have known with any exactitude when Messiah should suffer or when the exile should end. Remembering, if we’re looking at the 490, there’s not a lot of room between the suffering of Messiah, if that’s the Messiah, and the end of exile – 7 years difference. So we’re talking approximate time. We’re getting ready to be delivered. We’re getting ready to get the Romans kicked out here. We’re getting ready for our Messiah to come and avenge us against this Antichrist who is coming down. And they knew he was coming down.

Some of them were in that Dead Sea desert, as we’ve often said, and in wilderness places of hiding ‘cuz they knew Jerusalem was a doomed city. Not ultimately, but for a moment, Antichrist had to come down and have his way. Women were going to get ravished, houses were going to get rifled (Zechariah 14:1-2). They knew Jerusalem would to be trodden down 42 months. That was not news. Scripturalized in Revelation 11, but that was old hat. That was well known. That was the apocalyptic expectation. I can show it in the writings of the Qumran sectaries. We can show it in the intertestamental literature. We don’t need to show it there ‘cuz it’s in the Bible.

What were these people making of this? What were they interpreting? Well of course they were expecting Rome to come down and be aggressive and mutilate the people and violate the temple! Of course they were. Now if you’re a Sadducee, you’re not expecting that. You think, you know, it might go on a few hundred more years and keep the power structures as they are. But the Pharisees and most that were in the land were in a tremendous alert mode, and that’s what made their missing and rejecting Jesus so extremely reprehensible.

Here’s one in their midst who had done works and spoken words unequalled. Right? Why don’t you know the time of your visitation? Even if you don’t know that Daniel’s 69th week is about to be fulfilled over here at Golgotha, even if you don’t know that, what you should know, it’s time. All your compatriots know it’s time. Why don’t you know it’s time? And if it’s time, who am I? Who am I?

And that was what was so culpable and inexcusable. You see what I mean? All this evidence coming together – “You’re not putting the pieces together”, Jesus said. “You’re not piecing this together because your heart’s disposition is evil. This is a threat to you instead of a welcome rejoicing to you. Something’s wrong with your heart.” And so, it’s not about a lot of knowledge; it’s about your heart, ‘cuz you have even a minimal knowledge, if your heart’s right, you’d be able to make sense of what’s happening.
So that Messiah was to die was very rarely, and only by the most exceptional saints, expected. But that He should come…but that when He does die, and it being available, and now you’re giving Israel a case from the Scriptures, of why He had to die, and the appropriateness of it, and the vindication and verification of the prophets of it, now you’re dealing with, you’re upping the ante on a very inexcusable situation here. And you add evidence to evidence.

You know, first of all, the days roll on, Jerusalem’s being surrounded, and you’re still not believing. You’re still holding on to the fact that He was not the Messiah. He could not have been Messiah. It starts to be coming more and more without excuse. And so now you have the hardening set in, and so on, that we’ve seen through these long generations.

But back to Daniel, before leaving Daniel…so, you would be expecting Messiah to die, and if Daniel, if you want to have Him ascend at that time, which is reasonable – He’s the One coming to destroy the Antichrist – you would have the Antichrist go to the temple three and a half years after the death of Christ. You would have Christ return from heaven. And I would suggest of course with the same body He rose in, but that’s deep, because that’s a deep issue. I’d love to unpack that.

But He’s coming back, obviously with a real human body. Is it a new resurrected body, like Daniel’s going to get, or is it His own body that He went up in? See, did He physically go up? I say He did. Of course, but…and we know from Scripture He did, so what does it ….? So, you get my…I’m just thinking here. So, here comes Messiah, back to destroy a man, but He’s a Messiah that really quite recently died, in the 70-year scenario.

But then when Jesus…when the Antichrist doesn’t go to the temple, it becomes more and more conspicuous there’s a gap here. And why then, wouldn’t that gap, if it’s not going to be 7 years – this is going to glorious, Tom. Listen! – why not 2,000 years? Why not the two days…of Hosea, from the time that He was here…and ascended, as the overcomer, that took the hit and made everlasting blood redemption, ascending, waiting, Now that we know it’s not just a mere 7 years, what about putting that 7 years out to the end of two days? And if you know then, from the light of progressive revelation, that that third day – that’s post-tribulational – turns out to be exactly a thousand years, and you know the 490 years were literal 7’s, so that we have a legitimacy to argue an age that exists between two great incarnations – the incarnation of the seed of the woman, the incarnation of the seed of the serpent – and these two figureheads, these two heads of the two races of men It’s just perfect! The symmetry is amazing!

So you have this death… and so let’s just put there the death…and you have that question mark, like up on my chart, and then you dot-dot-dot down, and that question mark turns into a cross. And then that lights up everything. And then you know at that point of the cross, the One who’s returning has ascended…up in the clouds of heaven, at the right hand, waiting.

Then you’ve got Psalm 110 and Psalm 2, going on for two days! And then He comes again…you know, the tribulation is fulfilled in the days of these 10 kings. The kingdom of God’s on earth, the Lamb of God returns to rule out of Zion for a thousand years…There’s your third day. In a time of great affliction, we confess our single sin – it’s in the singular in the Hebrew – our offense, our trespass, we confess that, for which cause You left, from a place and went back to Your place. And when You went back…from other Scriptures we learned…You hid Your face, and we’re waiting for this unsealing of a mystery, for why You’re hiding Your face from larger Israel, the remnant, the maskilim, the believer, sees the secret.

And they’re waiting ‘til Israel sees it, but until Israel sees it, here’s a people instructing many, which is…Certainly it’s preaching the gospel, at the last 3 ½ years, but brother, it’s been preaching the gospel every since the secret’s opened up! That’s why the book of Revelation says “Seal it not!”, ‘cuz it was unsealed. Only thing that’s unsealed is a few final concluding discoveries that wait for the time of Antichrist, some certain things that he’ll do here and there – highly minute details of Daniel.
But the big picture has been once and for all unsealed, at Pentecost when the Spirit came down. According to 1 Peter 1:11, the Spirit comes down and reveals what the prophets had puzzled over. What had they puzzled over? How’s this all work out? What time and manner of time between a dying Messiah and a Davidic glory, the glory of the Davidic King?

Isn’t that amazing? That’s just an amazing picture! And it just shows the gospel. It shows grace and works, the necessity of blood redemption, the reversal of the curse on the basis of the death of this human, Who is God in the flesh. Mighty God, Everlasting Father…this wonderful Seed Who bypasses…and there’s a mysterious passage in Jeremiah, which says “I will do a great wonder: a woman will compass…surround…a woman will bypass a man. In other words, a woman…it doesn’t tell you much; it just gives a cryptic phrase, that I will do a great wonder. Behold, a woman will compass a man.

And I know, a natural commentator would read that as a judgement scripture, and all those other things, but, it just fits so well with the fact that through virgin birth, you will bypass or circumvent the genetic key that passes down the fallen nature, from our first parents. So Christ being born of a virgin allows Him to be both God and man without conflict, ‘cuz He’s free from the Fall. And as God, and as innocent man, He can become a sacrifice that can destroy the works of the devil, and atone.

It’s just amazing! In fact we believe a lot of things that we don’t fully understand, not because they’re not compatible with…they’re not irrational or contradictory, it’s just they’re too glorious to understand. They’re too incomprehensible. But we know they’re precious and we believe them. I don’t understand all the incredible glory and implications of the atonement, but I believe it. But I can also see what God has given as some real rational evidence for it. But the evidence, even when you conclude of atonement, it’s still only the Spirit that can take you to the glory of it.

So there’s a lot of things that are beyond human comprehension. But what is amazing is the way it works out with such symmetry…like a tapestry of perfectly interwoven threads, and all the strands just come together in this incredible portrait, of this manifold wisdom hidden, God says, to our glory, that the wisdom of the world will stumble at. It talks about atonements, it talks about resurrections, it talks about all this…But when you look at the evidence, especially the cumulative evidence, and you have a willing heart to see it a certain way, it so verifies and confirms itself.

One thing you can say at the end of the day is that nobody but God could have thought this up. There’s no way that this line of prophets could have preserved and perpetuated in such a beautiful symmetry and continuity, one building on the other. ‘Cuz remember, they didn’t get to look back. They didn’t go to the end and read the manual from the end. They’re building the manual as they go. Each one would live and each one would die, and they would pass it on. Man, when you look at that whole thing! I call it “the glory of the story”. I think the greatest apologetic of all time and history is not any one piece of this, but when it’s all pieced together. Aaah! It defies natural explanation… you know…beyond anything conceivable. It just…nobody but God! What a plan! What a purpose! What a perfection!

Yet, many questions, but yet, you’re able to manage those questions and bare the pain of those questions. Sometimes they’re painful questions. Because you see the story! And if you see the story by the Spirit, you see the glory by the Spirit. And no one can take it from you! Once you see it, you’re ruined! You may go through hell and high water, but you’re ruined! You see it! And you know that it’s a kiss of love. It’s a kiss of a friend confiding to a friend. “Come on in here! See my secret. Come and see what I have crafted here, what I’ve conceived. Look at my beautiful heart, my beautiful mind! Look at the way I hide from pride. Look at the way I bring these judgements and yet I leave something yet to be fulfilled, and I keep…just come and behold! Just come and see…in the whole story.

No I’m very sure that Daniel knew no one less than the sin-atoning, curse-reversing seed of the woman, that takes the hit is Daniel 9:26. But that would have left 7 more years. Where’s the seven? And how is that seven not necessarily, by logic, let alone the many, many scriptures that can be clearly put together in a way you can’t separate, by the way. I’ll show you that when we do our little parallelisms.
But…that seven years clearly has to do with the mystery of iniquity. It clearly has to do with the end of the time of the Gentiles, ‘cuz at the end of the 490, Israel’s not under anybody’s heel. The Messiah’s ruling and reigning, and Satan is bound…you could go on. In other words, the idea that the 490 of Daniel 9 is somehow detached from the 3 ½ years of Daniel 12 and of Daniel 7, is nuts! It’s crazy! It’s wrong! It’s perverse! I’ll tell you what it is: you may not be wicked, but you are wickedly being taught and trusting in man. You’re not asking questions as someone in a virginal openness that’s just desperate for truth. You are smug and content, and you’re letting men come in and tell you, you know, how to read this. If you were trembling at the text, you would never come up with that.

If you’re reading 2 Thessalonians 2, and you’re a 15-year old young person in Christ, and you’re finding out about this future man, you would never see a pre-trib rapture there! You’d never see that…it not there. Well, even if it is there, some tutelage, some academic has got to show you why it has to be there. All you’d be reading is “Wait! Before Jesus can come, this guy’s got to show up first.” That’s all you’d see. It takes the sophistication of academics for you to see something else.

So yes, God’s a God that hides, but to make His judgement really pronounced and clear, He hides in plain sight. It’s hidden, and it’s in plain sight. The things that…and God has a lot of riddles in Scripture – there’s a lot of subtleties, and we’ve touched on some of them here, where you really have to labour and pray and receive grace just to put the pieces together, especially rightly, because we’re all putting pieces together, and they come out all over the places. But to put the pieces together in the Divinely-intended, God-glorifying way really takes a weakness in the flesh and a trust, and a grace of trust in the Spirit.

But, having said that, this hasty presumption from what others have told us before…there’s just something there that…there’s a judgment, really…that we’re…not necessarily going to hell or something, but we’re cutting ourselves off, and robbing ourselves of something precious the Lord had for us if we’d only not trusted ourselves, and not our, and not those we think are the experts, but if we’d have gone to the Father, and said, “Teach me. I’m Your son. I’m Your daughter. Teach me. I don’t care about writing books. I don’t care about a name. I don’t care about getting it right and saying “I told you so!” I just want that intimacy with You! I want to be that humble thing that there is before You, before Your face, that You confide Your secrets in, and share Your heart, and You bring me into all the beautiful rooms, and the different departments of Your glory, of Your heart, of Your story. I want that. I want to see You.”
If that’s your heart, He’s gonna give you everything. But if you’ve got another agenda, if you got something else, and you want it for this purpose or that purpose, so you can be a prepper, or anything else, or save your hide, God’s gonna hold back – to an extent…He’s so good, I’m not saying He’s holding everything back. You’re gonna probably still have some blessings, but you are going to rob yourself when your heart is not simple toward the Lord. When it’s not child-like. You’re gonna…God’s just not going to work with that. He can’t. It’s not ‘cuz He doesn’t want to, He just can’t.

So we’ve really gotta be a people who empty ourselves, to get to the real heart of the real riches. ‘Cuz even when you have accurate things, it’s one thing to be right, it’s something else to truly savour, to truly appreciate the value and see it for what it is, in the Spirit by grace.

And so, do you really even know what you know? I don’t…I’m not careful at all about new information, but I’d love to really know what I think I know. I would love for the Lord to show me the power and implications of what I know…or suppose myself to know. It’s not knowing something new, or you know. Knowing something more. It’s knowing what He’s entrusted to us by the Spirit, to the glorious fulness of its implications. That’s what we’re in this race for.

Because I’ll tell you what, if you have that, I can’t believe that it doesn’t change you. You go, “Well, how’ll that fix my marriage?”, or whatever it might be that’s vexing you, or whatever. “How will that help me have a better, sanctified life?” How could it not? How can anytime when you see Jesus, His face, and often His face is most beautiful in the backdrop of this beautiful story. You don’t just see His face in the gospels, you see Him everywhere. You see Him everywhere. When you see His face, the Scripture says you can’t be the same. You can’t change…or, you can’t not be changed.

So the guarantee of how to be changed, in terms of what you do, what you say, how you act, is the issue of how you see. How you see is how you will be. If you see Him as He is, you will be as He is. And to the degree that you see Him – and there is degrees. That’s our great passion and quest: to see Him more fully, to see Him at all, and then to see and savour, not just to know about it, but to see and to savour. I think John Piper wrote a book, I don’t know the book…I’m sure it’d be nice to read it, I just don’t have time. It’s called Seeing and Savouring Jesus Christ. Boy I love that title! Seeing and savouring Jesus Christ – what a title!

And so, if we can see and savour…it’s not new information. But how can you, you’re as careful about needing to overcome things, you’re as careful about fears, you’re as careful about and look to the Lord to help you see. ‘Cuz when you see, you’ll never be the same, and to the degree you see, you will have power…over those things that menace and threaten. And even the things that He doesn’t give it to you to overcome in this life, He will….by seeing you will have the patience. And you will have the faith, and you will have the peace…and the resigned contentment, that you shall surely not always see the face of that enemy. And if you were given a plague or a pain or an affliction or a sorrow, the way you deal with it, the freedom from torment, the freedom from fear will be a whole different matter, because you’ve been with Jesus, you’ve seen His face. You’ve savoured Him.

And so, He is with you, through and in it all, and the only thing you need is a faith that is free of the accuser, who comes in and insinuates doubts, and gives you fears, and…just paints a picture of God that’s completely not true of Him. His whole game is to misrepresent your God, and paint you and ugly God instead of a beautiful God. You know…and paint you a frowning providence instead of One who sees to the end, that the latter end of His saints is always full of pity, and the goodness of the Lord.

And therefore you have what we could call the patience of faith to wait it out, and to bear it out until we come to the perfect day. ‘Cuz you know, if you have the kind of faith, of full assurance that we all desire, you know one thing: that perfect day is coming and you see it so clearly, you can taste it now. You’re eating the grapes of Eschalon??? before you’ve ever even, you know, even in the midst of your afflictions and your darkness.

‘Cuz it says in Isaiah 50, “Who is that servant who stays upon his God?”, who waits upon his God? But he’s in darkness. He says, “Let that servant stay upon his God.” But don’t let him turn around and try to make his own light. O, don’t do that! Don’t go making your light ‘cuz the lights go out. But be jealous for the light of God. That a pseudo, superficial, provisional light will never do.

And that’s what seeing Jesus will really do for you. It will make you where you can’t be satisfied for less. When you’ve seen His face, you can’t settle for less; it ruins you. In a blessed way, it ruins you. You know, you’ve been, you’ve seen. And you’ve been touched – God was in this place, and you knew it not, but now you know it. And…nothing’s the same. Even when conditions are exactly the same, nothing’s the same. Even when circumstances threaten and peril, nothing’s the same. You know that you know that you know, beyond doubt.

And I think there’s nothing so precious, and that I see, with this “middle of the week” glory that’s coming, and say, Christians, and even many Christians, it’s available now, and praise God, it’s always available. There’s always a reviving in the midst of…you know, there’s always a little refreshing or reviving. But that glorious time, when we’re having a reiteration of Pentecost, when the accuser cannot legislate against the believer’s conscience.

You know what that means? That means all of us will have different names. We’ll probably still have struggles. There’ll be things that will threaten and wear us out, and, you know…all of that. But, even when all that’s even intense, and in spades, as they say, all of that is….it’s like water of the duck’s back, when you’re free from doubt, when you’re free from doubt and perfect love has cast all fear. You can bear it. It’s not fun, it has a short time, you’re not gonna bear it forever. But it’s totally different, because you’ve seen Him, He’s with you, you’re with Him. You’re hid with God in Christ.
You’re not insecure. You may want to care about your rewards, you want to be faithful. But, regardless of what your rewards turn out to be, you have an inheritance that’s pure and sure, and fades not and undefiled. You have a sure inheritance. Now I know there’s some contingency in regard to our reward, and we all regard that. That’s a tremendous concern.

But one thing you should never have a concern about is your inheritance. We stress some? over reward, so that you’re faithful, so that you keep your heart free, and you know, you keep on pressing in and buffeting your body, ‘cuz you care about that. But you are not careful…you know you have an inheritance that’s secure. If you don’t have that, it literally lets the enemy just come in and just really have a hold of you. You’ve got to have that full assurance of faith to some degree, and I think we have a little taste of it, and it’s glorious, but we want more. One thing about tasting the Lord is that it always brings a devouring desire for more, and so…

But what will it be when God’s people can’t be accused? Even now, it’s illegitimate. Even now “who is he that condemns, it’s God that justifies”. Even now, it’s an illicit activity. But because of our strength and the strength of our flesh, the enemy’s allowed some access to exploit and opportune himself, by that measure of residual confidence that we still have in the flesh, and we fight against. And that’s why we suffer things, and go through things, ‘cuz what’s going more and more away, through the things we go through, is that residual confidence in the flesh. That’s always there to impede, to block, to hinder, to cheat, and to cheat us of the fulness.

But when that comes down in a people who have been really emptied, and then full of the light of the breaking in of the glory of the implications of this mystery, in the full face of a revealed Antichrist, and all the powerful “yea and amen”, where doubt is absolutely ridiculous – doubt can’t even begin to suggest itself, in terms of the facts. And then, spiritually doubt can’t begin to insinuate itself in terms of the clarity and sweetness and freedom of the gospel.

I mean, sure you’re weeping with them that weep, sure you’re afflicted in their affliction, and all the more, much more. But yet, like Jesus was the man of sorrows, He also had an oil of gladness above His fellows. He was the happiest man on earth. Even while He was the most sorrowful. That’s going to be us! Corporately speaking, never to that perfect measure, but corporately, a fulness, where we’re free of that doubt and all.

And if these end times do anything, it’s to let a church shine in that glorious, child-like simplicity of obedience unto death, without fear, without accusation, without condemnation, without double guessing. They’re able to be free even in their imperfections, even with their infirmities, even with their weaknesses. Those things do not condemn a heart that’s set free, a conscience that’s purged with precious blood.

It’s all about the Spirit quickening a faith that is more than our faith. It’s the faith of the Son of God. And when our confidence in the flesh is more and more broken, more and more taken, and our strength is no longer our weakness, but our weakness is our strength, we’re going to see an open heaven. Different ones are gonna have different tasks. Some will die sooner than others and all those good things. It won’t matter! It won’t matter! There’s a peace and contentment.

You can’t second-guess what God gives or doesn’t give. You just know Him. He’s given you everything. I know there’s a difference in what we receive in Christ…one this and one that. There’s a unique reward. There’s even a unique stone, that only the one receiving it can read. And we all have our personal history. There’s gains, there’s losses, there’s bitterness?, there’s regret. That’s why Paul even himself said “I forget the things which lie behind”, ‘cuz regret can eat your lunch!. Look, a backward look is not what the Lord wants for you. He wants the “yea and amen” of the future, of the forward look. He wants the “Finally, brethren, whatever things are pure and trus?? dwell on these things. Don’t look back!”
Don’t look back! You know, Lot’s wife looked back. Don’t look back! You’ll crystallize and harden. You’ll lose the vision, and when you lose vision, you start to languish. So don’t look back. But, as we’re going on here…uh…where was I?….

As the church corporately is emptied out, through the incredible witness of things that are so public and open, the incredible vindication and manifest fulfillment of the word of God, and prophecy, more prolifically in open fulfillment than ever before since Jesus. That in the face of that, a church like Daniel, that would have gone down into deep self-abasement to seek the Lord, to put away all nonsense and petty things, and all…really, a people shut up unto God, in such a way as only a resurrection transformation can bring them through it.

They can’t bear to go into what they know they’re going into. ‘cuz they see it. The world naively doesn’t see it. They might, yeah, they might be having heart attacks ‘cuz they’re scared. But they don’t see it. We see it, by the Spirit, like Jesus saw His cross. He was a prophet. He didn’t just say, “Well, I gotta go and get this over with.”

It was so forbidding! We’re gonna see how forbidding that tribulation time really is. And there’s nothing of your flesh that’s gonna wanna go there. The only way you can go there is in the victory of grace. And the only way you can face that…’cuz if you’re a prophet, you can’t face it. If you’re facing it, you’re not a prophet.

You can’t face this. It’s beyond you. It’s, it’s it’s…it’s beyond you. You can’t face it. To bear it is presumption. You can’t bear it. Another will have to bear it for you and with you and through you. Another will have to face it with you and through you. It’s a cup you can’t drink, but you will drink, if you follow what I’m saying.

So, because we will be prophetic, and see by the Spirit, it will drive us down, down, down, to greater and greater emptiness, to greater and greater desperation…in the flesh. In the Spirit, we’ll be mounting up with wings. Do you see that there’s a paradox here? What’s he saying? He’s saying this and he’s saying that…It’s exactly the way it is with the Spirit of God. It is a paradox. As I said, Jesus was the happiest man and the most sorrowful man.

They go together! That’s where I was… We will be weeping but we’ll be jubilant. When all of heaven is saying, “Now has come salvation, strength, the kingdom of our God and the power of Christ!”, that’s not just the ones, the souls on the altar. That’s not just the angels. That’s the saints! Heaven and earth – both side of the equation – will be privy to the fact that the thing that was withholding is now gone.
This means terrible prospects for the earth and the inhabitants of the earth, who are unregenerate. But it means glory, glory, glory for those who know the Lord and know their God. And it means a release of strength like they’ve never seen, ‘cuz God will entrust with great things to those who have nothing to gain in this world, who are not working out, they’re not insecure, they’re not needing it…and because they don’t’ need it; they’ll have it aplenty.

And so, they will have that, and they will be able by the seeing of what’s coming, almost, as if to say, vicariously experienced it. So, the only way they dare meet it is in the Spirit, having laid down all confidence in the flesh, and all outs and all options and all alternatives. That’s what I believe we’re looking at. And that’s why we’re coming to this place, and we’re being straitened by outward and inward. It’s both outward and it’s inward. Outwardly, it’s the fulfillment of prophecy.

It’s incredible things that literally…well, you’ve heard me tell the story before, where I always tell of my precious mentor and friend, Mr. Morton, Craig Morton. I would say to him when I was a really young believer, I said, “Mr. Morton, why don’t we see the kind of power…and the kinds of things?”, and he started this beautiful litany of things…went through the gospels…and he always spoke to me like this – “God bless your heart, buddy!” He called me “buddy”…and he called everybody “buddy”.

But he says, “We weren’t there when that man met that woman, with her dead son. We weren’t there…and he went right through, you know, all the things that Jesus did. And he kept saying, over and over, he kept saying, “D’you think that would have had an effect on you? D’you think that would have had an effect on your faith? D’you think…and then, and then, they saw Him taken away, and then they see Him again. D’you think would have had an effect on you?”

That’s why we don’t see that kind of power. That’s a good ole, home-boy, down-home practical answer! But how powerful! How charged with implication! When you’re talking about a people who will see their end before they get there…who will die the death before they get to the place of actual confrontation – because of the spirit of prophecy.

Which is so much more than facts! So much more even than accuracy. It’s a spiritual apprehension. When it says “they that understand”, it doesn’t just mean to understand the right facts. They that understand…that wise, the one that wins souls, the one that, the one that, you know, has something to impart. The one who knows the cross, who knows the resurrection, and the fellowship thereof. They’re the ones who are gonna be, you know…and then, because they know themselves chosen, and not something out of themselves, they’re able to have fruit that remains.

That kind of fruit sticks around; it’s not the come-and-go kind of fruit. The fruit that comes out of election stays elect. It’s a fruit that’s based upon a partial message which mixes flesh and spirit, mixes Man and God. And that mixture is what lies in wait for that seed that has not got deep root, for that seed that comes up quickly, but it goes quickly. But that seed that goes down deep, and that word “deep” is death, into the issue of the cross, into the issue of us bidding adieu to this world. “Let friends and”…what does Luther’s song say – ”Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also. The body they can kill”. I mean, when you’re really free…and Jesus said if you know the truth you’ll be free, there’s a power to abide that just doesn’t come any other way.

And so, that’s why Jesus said it’s a strait gate. Few find it…a lot of pop, a lot of quick pops-ups, lotta fruit on the tree that quickly perishes, a lot of things that come up, shoot up, but they don’t have…Jesus says, “There’s one common denominator with all those that fall: they have no root in themselves; they lack root. And the root speaks of depth D-E-P-T-H, and depth speaks of death D-E-A-T-H. That root that’s in the cross, it’s indestructible. It’s that indestructible seed.

So be sure. Make your calling and election sure. Make sure you’re that seed. ‘Cuz that seed will overcome. It has to. It invariably always does, because it’s born of God. And the rule is, whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world.

So, you aren’t the overcomer. You’re in the Overcomer. To Him is all the glory for the overcomer overcoming. You overcome because of Him, of Him, and He overcomes through you. So, in Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. Nothing you’ve brought or added. See, this is the issue of all of God’s stories.

So where was I…it was about this emptying out of the church…and how that we have to…you know, see by the Spirit, in order to come to that emptying. But we’re going to, but…oh, back to Mr. Morton. “Will this not affect you?” We are going to be brought – and it’s all by grace, and nothing superior in us that wasn’t true, and nothing that we’ll have that the saints of old won’t have. They get a lot of it in us, just like we get a lot of it in them.

Paul says, “you inherit all things”. How’s that? Well, whatever is Paul’s, or Apollo’s, or Cephas’s, you get it too. It’s all…and, my reward may be different than Paul’s, but my rejoicing is not, because I rejoice in his reward. And he rejoices in mine. And we all inherit Christ, and He’s the reward. Abraham said “this is my reward”, God Himself. God is my portion and my reward.
We are inheritors of God! This is amazing! Don’t get hung up on rewards! You know, carefully guard your heart. Vigilantly keep close accounts with God. Be faithful, tremble, obey. But don’t put your marbles with what you get. You’re gettin’ God! And in Him, you’re even gettin’ Paul! And the whole thing, even life and death itself, it’s all yours! Boy, this is bigger than you think! “Eye hasn’t seen or ear heard”.

So…oh, we’re all over the place as usual.

And all that came out of my dream, this morning. You were in it. I woke up. All that started coming together out of Daniel. I thought, “Here’s the task.” I know you already love it, Tom. You’re already in the middle of this. But we want to tie together this beautiful – it’s like, Travis calls it like, bird seed…you want to keep that bird…one seed makes him want the next, and just follow on, and God’s bird seed, and it’s all the way, to the climax of this story.

And I, I believe I received prophetic assurance when I was a very young man, that the tribulation church not only would come to an unparalleled fulness – remember this – never eclipsing or exceeding other many saints, not even comparing. Some, like…you know, there’ve been those “none greater born” – we’re not talking about that kind of comparison. We’re talking corporate here. We’re talking about a wide scale of a church that, you know, is being brought, like Peter, to an age, and another is taking us where would not have gone. We’re talking about a corporate phenomenon.

We’re not saying we surpass, or eclipse, or succeed. I’ve heard people say we trump Pentecost. I don’t believe that. What I do believe is we come back to another fulness, like Pentecost. Not eclipsing, not succeeding, except in terms of massive scale. That’s all I’m saying. Please understand.

And when I speak about maskilim or anything, we’re only talking about people that believe the mystery of the gospel… and that preach the gospel. You don’t have to know all the pieces and all the parts to be the maskilim. Really just have to know Jesus. But…because in a way, you’re already privy to and heir of the secret of the Lord, and in that is the germ of life. So, you know, you could be a more instructed maskilim, like you could be a more instructed scribe out of his treasure. That’s okay. That doesn’t make you some elite group. That doesn’t make you the only one that can preach the gospel or win souls, or….

Don’t get too carried away! We’re not talking about some elite inside track here. What we’re talking about is a maturation of something coming to the full, where all mystery of iniquity is about to come to full. And God’s people, on the parallel of that, is going to becoming to full in a corporate way. And yet, paradoxically, there’s going to be a great falling away going on right at the same time, the worst falling away and yet one of the greatest, most mass revivals, where a multitude which no man can number is being brought out of tribulation, not just tribulation in general, as you’ve often heard me say, but the Tribulation, the Great One – two definite articles in the Greek (Rev. 7:13-14).

That’s coming out of the maskilim, who are instructing many. Well, that’s true of the whole age! But it’s especially true, and in the context of Daniel, was for the last 3 ½ years. So, we’re not into an either/or choice here. When Huss was a martyr, he was a maskilim. C’mon! And all the people who believed in the word of God through Huss, has the same portion, goes to the same glory, whether they died a martyr’s death or not.

Let’s keep this realistic and down to earth, because there’s plenty to take you up to glory without getting elitist about this. And we’re not advocating for some overcomer theology of an inside man-child group, or something else that’s not true of the true Body of Christ, provided it’s the true Body of Christ. The true Body of Christ, corporately speaking now, is being taken to a transitional point, before the Lord returns, in the middle of Daniel’s week, that’s unparalleled since Pentecost. That I’m sure of, and that’s all we’re saying. If that’s a problem, I’m not sure, you know, that you should have that problem.

But having said that, we will have been straitened, by these closing in things, and these incredible fulfillments. We will know the time. We will be at the end of our power. We will be completely poured out, like Daniel. And we will be waiting, like the 110 in the upper room, for power. And not waiting. We’ll be busy. I mean, you could be very busy, out there, engaged, getting martyred, whatever, while you’re waiting. I’m not making…you’re not going to some enclave, some inside upper room to go wait. That’s not what we’re talking about.

But we will know the truth, and we will know that something is about to break in the very heavens, that’s gonna manifest itself on earth in two ways: a man of sin’s gonna be revealed and go to a temple, and as you know my view, he’s gonna be a risen man, and the accuser is coming down at that time, to fill that man, and to bring that final little time of ultimate woe upon the earth. At that same time, the accuser now being removed, the saints of God, both in heaven and earth, are going to be in total jubilee, because a baby’s been born, a beautiful reality of a corporate fulness that’s compared, in my view, to Mary’s baby, but it’s on a wide scale.

Remember, everything about Jesus, that prophetic spirit that was upon Him, all that…It’s not about something He attained by Himself. He attained it by the Spirit, through faith. He also was a man of grace. Everything about His life, from the beginning was grace. What we’re talking about does sound awfully elusive and remote and impossible, probably improbable to many of you. But, we’re talking about a time, at the same time the two witnesses are receiving their anointing, those that have understanding are being strong and doing exploits. It’s all in the middle of that week. And that can be proven from Scripture. If you’re in question of that, give us a chance to make the case.

That’s clear, that in the middle of the week, not just two witnesses in Jerusalem, but a whole body of people, that are the saints, that are compared to stars, are coming alive with great authority and anointing. And they’ll pay a price. There’s incredible persecution, unparalleled again. Not unparalleled in kind, or degree, or even in suffering, but unparalleled in the sense of a mass worldwide scale.
That’s what we’re talking about, so that people are being driven all the way into the dark, or all the way into the light. I call it the murky middle is being removed. And the saints, by what’s deeply in their heart, are being taken to a place to fulfill all that’s in their heart. And the wicked, what’s deeply in their heart, is being pushed to a place where they’re gonna manifest in the flesh all that’s in their heart.

This is the kinda time we’re talkin’ about. And isn’t it fitting, wouldn’t you agree? This is the kinda way a God who made everything would end an age. He would end an age in this kind of open display, where no tongue could rise up, no questions could be asked. That angels and nations have been educated, so that they beat their swords. You know, we’re talkin’ about a major education of our planet.

How else, and in what lesser way, would, reasonably, would history end? Or, not history, because we still have the Millennium, but, this age? This age would only end in a way that would do justice to the character and nature and glory of God. He did not do anything, He said before He would judge, before Israel would have the 70 AD event, He said to them, “Had I not done among you works and spoken words that no one ever did, that now you have no cloak.”

Don’t you find it reasonable that before the Lord will close shop?? on this planet, He will have first given them a witness that could not be reasonably gainsaid or resisted? That to resist it would be like…gnashing on Stephen with your teeth. It would be like, an absolute…you’d be driven, through your hatred of the light, into a frenzied rage, of absolute manifestation of sin in the flesh…with your head-guy incarnating your mystery…as our head, Adam, our second Adam, incarnated our mystery. But we are that mystery body. And we are…so that great division.

In other words, in all I’ve said here, Tom, is logic. It’s symmetry. It adds up. It fits. And that’s the greatest argument for it. It’s not just one little argument, and one point. It’s the whole picture, how it hangs together, fits together, and glorifies God in a way…I talk about…you’ve heard of The Tale of Two Cities? I like to talk about a tale of two stories. Our story…their story has a glory. Now it runs some serious parallel when these last days come, and it turns out to be a false story, in some aspects.

But I’m talkin’ about our replacement friends. They see a crucified redeemer, a blood atonement. They see enough, that I believe that many of them, truly, many of them, God knows, perhaps most are saved. They’re His people. But they don’t see the story, that has the greater glory, which is a tribulation fulness that comes around, a covenant that focuses upon the recovering again of the natural branches. This is a mighty feat, that is God’s own self-appointed mission impossible, to bring that people in, and to fulfill all His promise to them when they are actual enemies, for our sake. They exist in that condition, just like…you know, He’s…Lazarus was left in the tomb, in that condition, for the greater glory of God. God is able, and to demonstrate that, He’s going to bring them in. So, our story is a greater glory. It’s like The Tale of Two Cities. It’s a tale of two stories. We have a story that includes the vindication of the word of God in a millennium, that vindicates everything He said about the things leading up to the Day of the Lord, the Day of the Lord, and what follows from the Day of the Lord.

You don’t just come up to the end of the age, and go out in what I call a Laodicean fizzle, just boom, a backslidden church, suddenly one day the Lord shows up. That’s it. Now we’re gonna move to the new heavens and new earth…or whatever, or some post-millennial pervasiveness of the gospel. That’s mythical stuff! No, God will avenge Himself and openly demonstrate and vindicate Himself against all the gainsaying “Can He bring the kingdom of God on this earth?” Can He bring the kingdom of God to that disobedient and gainsaying people, and not another, not going off and leaving them and just finding those more compliant souls who are the great cooperators with God? No! He’s gonna raise them from the dead!
They are a statement of who He is, and all of us should understand our own grace on the basis of the template and pattern of their grace. That’s how Paul understood his. He was persecuting the truth, on the road to Damascus. One day, the next day, he was an apostle to the Gentiles. Israel is a gainsaying and disobedient people. One day, the day after Jacob’s trouble, and the King is back, they’re a light to the Gentiles.

There you have it. Now you see it, now you don’t! You know, it’s the resurrection! He is the God who raises the dead…with no thanks to you. And no glory to you. That’s what this whole thing’s about. I tell people all the time that the Scripture is about – summed up in one verse – it’s in Zechariah 4: “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit”, says the Lord.

That’s the whole Bible. And God is so jealous for that, He will frustrate your every well-conceived plan, even to serve Him. He will literally let it all come to nothing. He will blast your gourd, wither it. He will continually shut you up, until you begin to know that there’s only one thing that comes out of God, it has to come out of death. It’s the rod, the dead rod that buds…and that secures the glory. It’s all Him. Not somehow where you “let Him be God” or made it happen or whatever.

Now you better be obedient; woe to you if you’re not obedient! Woe to you if you are not faithful to your stewardship. True. But Paul also says, “I obtained mercy to be faithful”. See the paradox. The necessity shut him up to depend on God who raises the dead so that the fulfillment of it was not him! But grace through faith through him! It wasn’t bypassing conveniently the conditions and saying “I got a special pass for you, Paul.” No! You’d better fulfill the conditions. Woe to you if you don’t!

But what does that do? The inflexible necessity shuts you up to a…and drives you down to a dependency that allows God to not share glory with your flesh, but bring about the fulfillment, even of your necessary daily faithfulness.

He’s the author and finisher of the whole deal. He doesn’t let you get in on it at any point. If you did, it would be polluted, it would be vitiated, it would be spoiled. It doesn’t take but a little leaven to ruin everything. God is so jealous that it not be by might, He doesn’t need big cheques, He doesn’t need anything that man thinks He needs. He will go out of His way to prove “that’s not what I need, and therefore, that’s not what I’m going to use. I’m looking for that weakness and that foolishness that’s intimate with My heart, and that waits for that, ‘cuz they’re too ruined for anything else.”

There’s nothing like being ruined by God. There’s nothing like being disappointed by God, because He’s about to appoint what He disappoints. He only says “no” – and it’s a firm, deeply-felt “no” – that He might say “yes”. But He’s gotta say no to your flesh and all your good ideas. And that’s just jealousy, ‘cuz He will not let man get in on even a scintilla of His glory.

Now how that works out – and I know there’s questions, I have ‘em too, I have ‘em too…I wrestle with a lot of questions that just don’t seem to…well, what part’s man? – I don’t know. But I know what I said was true just now. That much I know. And how that works out – human responsibility, sovereignty – I just leave it to the theologians. But I know – one thing I know, that man doesn’t get in on it at any point…at any point. It’s all a gift. You gift your way to glory. You don’t work your way, any part. It’s a gift, all the way from start to finish.

Even the whole plan of God, Romans 11 – “for unto Him, and through Him, and to Him” – He’s talking about a circle there. And there’s no place in there where He is recompensing what man gave. He’s not doing any of this with regard with what man gave, or what input, you know. The whole circle there just excludes man.

And He chose Israel to make the statement of that circle. And by the way, that’s why you’ve got to have a Jewish Millennium. You can’t just have a millennium with Christians. You’ve gotta have a millennium out of a nation that was dead and behold, it lives….out of a nation that wasn’t cooperating. You’ve gotta have a nation that was like Paul on the road to Damascus, pursuing, against the truth, with all of his zeal. And until he ran into Stephen, he had a robust conscience. But after Stephen, he would still even with more of a frenzied fury, but now with a divided…he was a conflicted man. He was kicking against the goads. That is huge, cuz Tom, that’s what the church has to be to Israel. We have to be Stephen.

There’s something in the logic of God that’s not just gonna…God doesn’t just come along and just presto changeo…fulfill My word. He always does it through weakness and through jars of clay. He moves mighty angels out of the way through a little guy on earth called Daniel. You see what I’m saying? He does nothing…but He is the author of that prayer, He’s the author of Daniel’s weakness. He’s the author of it all. But He does it through a chosen means, that He’s very jealous that we’re in the fight with Him, that we go through the travail with Him, that we rejoice with Him, and that we sorrow with Him.

Have you ever thought about you’re being called to sorrow with God? To fellowship in His sufferings? To feel the pain…with God? Only then will you know the glory…and feel the elation, and the glory. It all goes…it’s “are you in it with Him?” He’s certainly in it with you.

Brother, I’ve gone on too long. But I just felt the sense to keep on there while there’s a sense of life. Go ahead.

Tom: [Could you pray for…let’s say we put this on-line – this has been really good, Reggie, really good.]

If it’s been good, then you can believe it’s been given….’cuz I have no clue!

Tom: [Could you pray for the people that have watched this far, that either are getting the Divine “no”, right now… are being sifted, or will be sifted, just kind of in closing?]

Jesus, it was You that said, and seemed so fearful, and so painful that You said it, but You said it, and it was so good, in its end result. You said, “those that keep their life will lose it, but those that lose their lives will find it.”

But Lord, that’s just the problem. With man, this is impossible. We’re not able – we can will, we can resolve, we can make covenants and commitments, dedications. But we’re not able to lose our lives, Lord. We’re asking You to take ‘em, God, take ‘em! Possess us, Lord! Oh we want to be willing, Lord! We can’t ev…that grace…that we could be willing. But we’re not able to lose our lives. We need Your grace, Lord…so that we can lay it all down, ‘cuz there’s only one thing You resist. You resist pride. And pride can be in the most broken of people. Pride is so resilient. It’s so deep. It’s so hidden. It’s not like the puffy arrogance of the world. It’s just nothing but self-sufficient, self-reliance, even out of fear, out of a broken people, who just fearfully can’t let go of their fears. And the reason they can’t is they’re still depending on themselves. We do it at such an unconscious level. We don’t even know how impossible it is to stop depending on ourselves. We don’t know how impossible it is to truly trust You.

And that’s why we need the God who raises the dead. We need Your quickening, Lord. You quickened the dead. You don’t quicken the hopeful and the promising, and the cooperative.

We praise you for everything, Lord, which men, even in their own natural state, wills for good, and for right. It’s certainly a lot better than ISIS or something. But oh God! We don’t see our sin. No one can see it. You are a revelation, and sin is a revelation. It’s not with flesh. It’s not with our power. We can will to see it. We can desire, and thank You, we can pray. Luke 18:1 says if we persevere in prayer, it’s very hopeful.

So we do come Lord, and in our weakness, take away our own guarded schemes and thoughts about how to even help ourselves grow in grace, and all the other things that are so good. But yet, Lord, we’ve gotta have Your power take away our false strength. We’re not able to…we can give it to You now. We do it now even. We know, Lord, You hear our prayer. But we’re not able to cease from our own works; we’re not able to do that. We can focus on it, and we should. You tell us to labour to do that.

But Lord, it’s only as You help us, it’s only as You cause us. You said blessed is the man whom You choose, and cause to approach You. There was only one, really, who ever really approached You. You said, “Who is this that approaches?” and it was Jesus, Lord. But because He did, we can. And through Him, we can, and You receive us for His sake, and through Him.

And You do things that are impossible, Lord. And today, we’re asking You to help us lose our lives, because in holding on to our lives, and to our dreams and our schemes, like the world teaches us to do, Lord, by doing that, Lord, we cheat ourselves, Lord, and You. And we are a poor education to the ages.
But when we are able to come to You and say, “Lord, it’s not in my power” therefore, we apply to You for Your power”, to take us where we could never go, then we are blessed, You are blessed, and the angels are educated, in a blessed way. And they can say, You can say of us, like You did, “Who is My servant, like My servant, Job?” And I know You have that in Your heart to say about a corporate body, Lord. And I know many precious saints have attained it, and there’s others who perhaps haven’t attained that, but You love them too, and they have their reward.

But we pray, God, that we will be jealous for the best that You have, Lord. But to have the best, we must, we must lose it all, that we would set our vain affections on are set up??? Lord, we just need surgery! We need Your own searching to go in. David himself said, “Cleanse me from secret faults, because who can even know their errors?” Lord, sin is so pervasive and so hidden. Only You can spot it and expose it and deliver us. Put Your finger on it.

Lord, we know You cannot brook, and You cannot…You’re gracious…we know there is a common grace, but Lord, we know that Your best cannot cooperate with sin, with even willful blindness of any kind. Lord, but then there’s a blindness that’s not willful, that we also need to be disabused of. There’s a blindness that just comes with what we are.

And we ask, Lord God, that You’d open our eyes. Break our hearts, and give us tasted visions of Your glory, so that there’s no rival, there’s no idolatry, there’s no, there’s no one to compare in heaven but You, and on earth, there’s none beside You. That our eye is single. You said if our eye would be single, our body is full of light.

So we come to You, Lord. Yes, we…better, we must…lose our lives. And woe to us if we don’t. But Lord, we can’t. But Lord, we must. But Lord, we shall through Your grace. And sometimes, it’s by increments, and sometimes…

But Lord, take away the lie that we can somehow regulate and calculate and accomplish things through will and good intentions, which is really not Your Spirit. And You must blast it, You must resist it. And woe to those who have success in that, Lord. We don’t want success. Sometimes, what people hail as the very blessing of God is a…is a judgment, though it’s very successful outwardly, commends itself outwardly. Yet, Lord, it’s not Your Spirit, and will not receive reward in that day. It will be wood and hay and stubble.

So we’re not able to have Your jealousy, Lord, but You could give it to us, and we ask for that today, that we would be jealous. And in our sharing today, we mentioned many times about being ruined, so that we can’t settle for less. Let us truly say our eyes have seen the glory. And that, Lord, we are shut up. And Lord, we want You to be glorified in all the earth. We want Your name, not our name. We want Your way, not our way.

Help us, oh God. Cause us to break the power of this strong flesh that’s more proud than we can imagine or know. It’s more self-dependent, even in its fears. And even in its efforts, Lord. We could never get humble enough. We could never bow down enough. Lord, it’s wise and good and right to fast and pray and seek You, and continue to knock. But we could never bow down enough. Only You can bow us down, Lord. Take us to that place, which we cannot attain. You must come to us. You must come to us. Draw us with cords. Let us lose our lives, so that You can begin to entrust us the true riches.

Let us wait with patience.

Lord, I personally am full of so many promising ideas and You keep blasting and frustrating all of them. And I just can’t seem to do a thing, Lord. And I just want to be…not grieved that my gourd is withered. Lord, I want to rejoice. I want to rejoice that You resist me. I want to rejoice that You say, “no”. I want to rejoice, Lord God, and wait for You, and not to think that I have to have all kinds of time, and all kinds of freedom from diversions, or distractions, Lord.

That again is power. All those things are power. Lord, You give those things. Yes, we need those things, and You know what we have need of. But oh God, our trust is with You, Lord. Not with our opportunities. Lord, Father, we have failed, and wasted, we could regret, we could go into a bog of regret. But we pray, God we will not look back. We pray, Lord God, we will see the “yea and amen”. Your promises are precious, Lord, and by these, we partake of Your Divine nature.

Lord, let us be a people who live by faith, every word that proceeds from Your mouth, that live by the promises, and not by the predicaments of our lives. Let those things not rule us. Let us not be bullied by principalities and powers, and high imaginations and persuasions that don’t come from heaven.
Lord, let us be so lost to ourselves in this world, in this evil age, and so separated unto You, that You can afford, without giving any power to the flesh, You can afford to give us precious things of Christ, and allow us to glorify You and bring a faithful prophetic truth and a standard and a plumbline in our generation.

And Lord, we’re just gonna say again, “Come quickly!” In the hemorrhaging, in the gloating of the demonic powers, in the high looks. We know You’re a God of common grace, and there’s sweet and wonderful things happening all over the planet right now. But Lord God, You’re touched by all the tragedy, all the abuse, all the molestation…and all the exploitation, and all those exalted high things, that are getting away, literally, with murder. But they won’t get away.

Come, Lord Jesus, come and put an end, that You’re name would be magnified in all the earth, and all their high speeches would come down…in one day! Oh God, we saw just a little taste of how completely astonished and upset everyone was, and how You do things, Lord, that just humble pride.

And Lord, help us not hate it when You humble pride, but help us always kiss the hand that wounds us, Lord, ‘cuz “faithful are the wounds of a friend”. When You let the air out of our balloon, Lord, and You close in, and You let us see what it would be like for one moment without You, just so You…You say for that moment, “no”, then You say “yes”, and in a way, You hide Your glorious “yes” behind a “no” that’s very firm, and it looks final. On the surface, Lord, it looks so final; You say, “no”. But Your heart is to say, “yes”.

So Lord, I just ask that we would lose our lives…and find our lives, by the grace that comes to us. You study, You know each one of us is so different. But You know the way that You take with each one of us, Lord, that we would not miss Your best, that we would not settle for less. ‘Cuz I know, Lord, if there’s any tears in heaven, they’re soon wiped away if there is. Lord, I know the greatest regret would be to have settled for less than it might have been if we weren’t so busy and taken with our self-carnal dependency, even in terms of spiritual achievements or success or anything else.

Lord, spiritual things, just like natural things, cannot be approached with the will and power of man. They can only be approached through the cross, both in the natural and the spiritual. And to have success that’s not out of that cross is no success at all. It’s a hidden judgment, and sometimes that judgment is not just something bad that happens to us, but it’s what we impoverish ourselves of; it’s the supply that we cut off from ourselves, but not there You???

So keep us, Lord, in that place in Isaiah 66, that trembles at Your word…and does not lift ourselves up, Lord God. But make us as a weaned child and let us tremble at Your word, and be that broken thing, Lord, that You can pour into.

Lord, thank You for what You’re showing us in these days. But Lord, we have to ask You, fulfill Your word. Take the mountains of opposition that are between us and Your return, things that have to be fulfilled in prophecy, even still, that are so externally improbable. Yet Lord, look at what You’ve done. You brought Israel back after centuries. You are God. You are God, and You will be God.
Thank You, God. In Jesus’ name, amen.

I would love to know your thoughts on the Islamic Caliphate (700 ad) as the the fourth beast of Daniel rather than the traditional interpretation of Rome.

I have a different take on the nature of the beast kingdoms. I see them as a generic continuity of the kingdom of man, not so much replacing one another, though there are territorial and distinct character changes, but each kingdom is not so much replaced as living on in its successors. Whatever we understand of the 4th kingdom, it is paradoxically at once the last, and yet not the last. We know this because John sees Rome as the 6th, to be succeeded in the future by a 7th. I think the point here is that the 4th kingdom would be the last monolithic world dominion. Unlike the more contained 3 predecessors, the 4th (I think Rome) would be first divided and then fragmented and never again able to come into the kind of cohesion achieved by the earlier kingdoms, including Rome in its beginnings, and I think this fragmentation and division continues right through the Antichrist time, since he is never able to consolidate his kingdom into another world dominion, uniting only the ten, but then enforces economic but not absolute military dominance over many nations that continue to resist him right up to the end (Dan 11:40-45 with Rev 16:12-16, many scriptures bearing on this little considered fact).

So the Antichrist arises as a ‘little horn’ from the region of ancient Syria (Dan 8:9), amidst a very divided, diffused and fragmented end time form of the 4th kingdom, and actually constitutes both the 7th and the 8th from the standpoint of John’s fuller account of beast kingdoms, reaching back to include Egypt and Assyria in addition to Daniel’s four. For John the Antichrist is the 7th in his rise, but becomes the 8th as the risen 7th. As the 8th, he now embodies as the former 7, as the ‘composite beast’ . He is therefore at once the 7th and the 8th. As the 8th, he is the risen 7th, now become the full incarnation of Satan, the ultimate human embodiment of the mystery of iniquity, but that’s another discussion.

The rise of Islam is indeed huge and becomes THE primary force that will be exploited to overwhelm Israel and begin the tribulation. It is no accident of history that a 7th century fiction of Mohammed’s mid night journey from the temple mount should obsess the entire Arab world (people of the ‘everlasting hatred’), not with Medina or Mecca but Jewish Jerusalem. I also believe since a very young man that the ten kings will be Arab nations. So how do I make these to be an extension of Rome rather than the Islamic world? Good question. I ask that myself. I can only say that the ten are shown to issue out of the 4th in its final, fragmented stage, and certainly many of these nations were part of the ancient Roman world and its evolution through history. It seems the prophecy sees the 4th kingdom in a long evolution of division and fragmentation, reaching to the end, and thus ignores, on the gap principle, many of the kingdoms that would rise and fall within its parameters. But here’s the principal reason I can’t well negotiate skipping Rome as the 4th kingdom:

For me, it is Dan 9:26. Here is the “cutting off” of the Messiah (compare the same language in the Song of the Suffering Servant; Isa 53:8). This greatest event on the 70 week timeline significantly happens when Rome rules the world. Clearly, there is a gap between the 69th and 70th week, and thus between the time of Rome and the time of the final mystery of incarnation in Daniel’s “coming prince”, Paul’s ‘man of sin’. The ten kings are contemporary with the beast, but the beast and the ten are described as issuing out of the fourth. John sees all these beast as a single beast with many heads, and he clearly carries this beyond Rome, which he represents as the 6th of 8 heads.

Now here’s my thinking: In Lk 3, it is said that when John Baptist emerges out of the desert to begin his ministry on the Jordan, the scriptures says “all men were in expectation”. That phrase is huge! By any reckoning, the 70 weeks were nearly expired. It was time for the last events that would bring the kingdom. It was time for the Messiah, or at least his expected forerunner. Clearly, Rome was obviously the 4th, and to their experience manifested all the traits described of the 4th. The Messiah, though rejected, appears and makes the atonement that purchases the ‘everlasting righteousness’ of covenant promise. In this, the kingdom of God has come near and is announced as present. Am I to suppose that the kingdom of God in its inaugurated form as a mystery, but mighty in its working and accomplishment in the realm of the Spirit, did NOT come during the fourth kingdom? Or that Jesus’ death during the rule of Rome over Judea was not during the 4th kingdom? That’s just hard for me. Rather, it seems we are touching again on the heart of the mystery of the kingdom coming in stages, with the unexpected gap between the two comings at both ends of the long history of the divided and fragmented 4th kingdom. In other words, it’s the gap principle again where there is the partial, then the leap to the end and the full coming in of the kingdom to fill the whole earth.

I also believe that the same 4 that appear in Dan 2 is represented again in Dan 7 under the imagery now of beasts rather than metals. I base this on my personal conviction that the language of Dan 7:4 too clearly refers to Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity and humbling to dismiss. This means that the winged Lion is the head of gold, which for me is decisive that the same 4 beasts are in view in both visions only under different symbols. Now, can we really conceive that after Daniel’s vision begins with the 3 kingdoms that history confirms followed after Babylon, that Rome is skipped, the very kingdom that was ruling when Jesus announces the inaugurating presence of the kingdom and the great turn of history in His imminent cutting off as the curse reversing seed of the woman? That, for me, is too much to ask. No, Daniel is not skipping Rome anymore than John skips Rome in his vision of the 7 headed beast, but the 7th could well be one who emerges out of a later stage of the 4th, and perhaps this emergence is from the caliphate which took its rise within the 4th, but is not particularly distinguished from the 4th in its ten king stage.

 

(1hr:25min)
 

Right Click to Download The Final Chapter of God’s Work – by Reggie Kelly (39mb)
 

Unlike many modern scholars, they saw this, not as a passing episode that did NOT realize the final deliverance of Daniel’s people (e.g., the Syrian occupation of 166-163 B.C), but as necessarily bringing in the more ultimate end of the age, even the resurrection of the righteous (Dan 12:1-2). From this, they would know that the temple would be standing for many generations, and regardless of the interruption that happened briefly in the second century B.C. under the Syrian tyrant, Antiochus IV, many understood, as Jesus would predict, that the temple would certainly be standing when the final desecration would be accomplished, just 3.5 years before the end.

It becomes very noteworthy then that the temple of Isa 63:18; 64:10-11 (which notably echoes the language of Ps 74), is described as being in Jewish possession for only “a little while” when the final desolation comes (Isa 63:18; 64:10-11). The context is clearly the end of exile. This is very significant, and a very crucial point in our apologetic, because it goes perfectly to explain why nothing in history has sufficiently answered to the 2300 days of Dan 8:9-14.

The difference between the half week described in Dan 7:25; 9:27; 12:7, 11, and the longer period of Dan 8:14 is the difference in the starting point of the sacrifice. This is clear, since both periods include the desolating sacrilege that starts the tribulation that arrives at the same end, notably an ‘end’ that Daniel ties, not only to Israel’s long awaited deliverance but also to the resurrection of the righteous (Dan 12:1-2).

The logic is this: if the 2300 days of Dan 8:13-14 has not been fulfilled in antiquity (as no proffered account of the chronology, either of the Syrian desecration or the Roman siege, answers nearly enough to the specificity of the time), and if the days are not arbitrarily converted into years, as in the historicist school and Adventism, and, since the end in view is nothing short of the eschatological climax of Israel’s permanent and everlasting deliverance in conclusion of the times of the gentiles, then it seems only one conclusion can follow. The 2300 days marks the time from which the sacrifice begins.

Since the sacrifice is stopped in the middle of the week to begin the last 3.5 years of unequaled tribulation, when did it start? At the time of the Roman destruction of the temple of 67-70 A.D., the sacrifice had been uninterrupted since it was taken away for the space of exactly 3 years by Antiochus IV, from Dec 25 166 to Dec 25 163 B.C. The sacrifice was once more suspended for only a day at the end of Pompeii’s three month siege of Jerusalem in 63 B.C. After that, it continued uninterrupted until the Roman siege of 67 A.D. Since then, the Jews have been without a temple and sacrifice (‘many days’; Hos 3:4-5).

If the temple that is desecrated to begin the last tribulation is one that has been in Jewish possession for only ‘a little while’, and if the 2300 day prophecy of Dan 8:13-14 is speaking of a sacrifice that has only recently started when it is stopped, then it becomes clear that the prophecy of Daniel could not, under any regard for the details of the prophecy, have been fulfilled while the second temple was standing. This means that the sacrifice that is taken away in the middle of the week (Dan 9:27; 12:11) cannot be confused with the sacrifice that continued in the second temple until it was stopped by the 70 A.D. destruction of the Romans. It could only belong to a future temple that hosts a sacrifice that has only recently started, because the temple itself has only recently been rebuilt, according to Isa 63:18.

Therefore, if we can say that the 2300 terminates at the point of the 1290th day of Dan 12:11, then, by counting backwards, we arrive at the approximate time the sacrifice will start again. I say approximate, because it is only an inference to assume that the sanctuary is cleansed exactly on the 1290th day after the stopping of the sacrifice. Though possible, it is not clearly stated.

If we allow the example of Hanukkah to inform the meaning of the cleansing of the sanctuary, then this may take place sometime later than the 1290, perhaps further out, somewhere within the 1335 days. Obviously, this takes us past the Lord’s return into the early days of the millennium when a new temple will be dedicated on the topographically transformed table land of Zech 14:9-11; as “the mountain of the Lord’s house will be established in the tops of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it” (Isa 2:2).

So while precise exactitude may not be advisable, it is enough to understand that within the first year after the covenant has been confirmed, the sacrifice starts only to be stopped soon afterward in the middle of the seven.

This becomes very significant in distinguishing the peace arrangement that will coincide with the beginning of the last seven years. The “league” or covenant that we are looking for must be one that brings about some very distinctive and unmistakable conditions that must align at the same time. Regardless of what other events fall impressively into place, the last seven years of this age cannot begin until some form of agreement provides for conditions that permit, not only Jewish access to the temple mount, but the consecration of the holy place in a new temple and the soon starting again of the daily sacrifice.

Any peace plan that does not confirm (ratify / strengthen) a covenant that recognizes Jewish right to their ancient place of worship CANNOT be the last week / seven of Dan 9:27, because very shortly after the last week starts with the confirming of the covenant, the sacrifice is very soon to start. Could the covenant that is confirmed in Dan 9:27 be the same covenant that is called ‘the holy covenant’ in Dan 11:28, 30?

So regardless of who the Antichrist is thought to be, or from whence he is expected to originate, and regardless of what other identifying actions he is to fulfill within the first half of the seven (Dan 11:23-30), one thing is very clear. If it is the covenant of Dan 9:27, it will be followed by the deceptive peace described in Isa 28:15, 18; Dan 8:25; 9:27; 11:23-24; Thes 5:3. But no peace can decisively confirm that seven years has begun UNLESS it provides for the soon resumption of the daily sacrifice in a temple that has been only recently recovered to Jewish possession.

THAT is the verification that the believer must require. When these unmistakable events come into manifest alignment, there can be no doubt that the last seven years has begun. Of all the questions of prophecy regarding the time (when it will be time to know the time), a peace initiative that will at last provide for the real beginnings of a temple is the only kind of peace initiative that should command our attention as promising a soon beginning of the last seven years. Until the question of a Jewish temple is seriously on the table, peace negotiations are not, by themselves, decisive evidence that the seven years is at hand.

God has given this knowledge to His people for a gracious advantage in many regards, but Jesus particularly specifies its use in our defense against the unparalleled deception that is coming on the whole earth. His prescribed antidote is that we “take heed” to what He has told us before (Mt 24:25; ‘all things’; Mk 13:23), and that we follow His command to read and understand Daniel’s reference to the abomination of desolation in particular (Mt 24:15; Dan 8:11; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11).

By so doing, we not only prepare ourselves against the great deception, we also equip others to equip others (2Tim 2:15) in those days when so many will be in distress and confusion at the overwhelming events that only the light of prophecy can interpret (Dan 11:32-33; 12:3). Jesus knew that by obedience to His command to read and understand this event in particular that a whole vista would open up, not only of what is to follow the abomination, but of all that leads up to it.

Knowing the events that mark the first half of the week will be crucial for our preparation for the unprecedented test that follows the abomination of desolation. This knowledge and the certainty concerning the time is a great gift that designs the deepest work of the Spirit in the world wide body of Christ, unprecedented since Pentecost.

Daniel and the Big Picture – Reggie Kelly
(facilitated by Tom Quinlan and transcribed by Rob Weiss)

I have some thoughts…you know – like I told you in my text to you…I actually woke up, having a dream about you…and I think it was you – and maybe a couple of others, but for sure you. Actually, I don’t recall others; I do recall you. And I was reviewing with you things we already know, we’ve already shared on this. But as a result of that exchange in the dream, I woke up with a lot of really fresh thoughts, or I thought fairly fresh, on Daniel. And like I said – what did I say to you in my text?…let me just run that right by you…

Tom: You said, “I was talking to you about what Daniel would have inherited from the earlier prophets, and how this would have been interpreted in light of his questions and the new light he was receiving. Then, when awake, a whole bunch of things came pouring in that were really edifying, promising thought catalysts for big-picture thinking, which is kind of where the Lord has me lately.”

Yeah…yeah…OK, I want to kinda dial us all the way back. I thought one of the most rich times we had in our God’s Foretold Work, or whatever we’re doing there, out of Isaiah was when we were in the Servant Songs. No, excuse me…check. It’s comparative, it’s equal in terms of impact almost, but I meant to say in The Song of Immanuel. ‘Kay, Not Servant Songs, rich obviously very rich always. But this was The Song of Immanuel, which is, as you know, Isaiah 7 through I believe it’s 12. And that is an incredibly rich pocket because it also inherits from other…well not so much from other prophets – not to say that Isaiah was the earliest; he was not – but it inherits so richly from the Decalogue. But not only that, but particularly the history of promise and…’cuz it so much assumes – and unpacks, really – the mystery of the Man-Child. You know, the original seminal – what do you call it – the Proto-Evangel.

And so it so much assumes that this uh…cuz now you’ve come along – so when you deal with this cumulative progressive unfolding, where God is just opening up with this incredible mystery that runs along side the history of Israel, but before you even begin the history of Israel, you’ve already begun the history of the mystery, if I can say that.

So you’ve already got this incredible promise of the reversal of the curse – just for quick and easy shorthand, I like to call it the reversal of the curse. So you’ve got this seed from the woman’s line, therefore human, but so different from other humans, because anyone in a position to reverse a curse has to be someone, by logic, has to be someone not under it.

So already, you’re implying things about circumventing in some way, the fallen nature. Right? So, you’ve got an incipient or seminal concept of a reversal of the Fall that depends on not being under the sentence of it. Even Eve would have known, having just looked at nature around her, with the cataclysm of what’s taken place in the Fall, having been immediately present to observe the changes – in nature, in the animal kingdom. And who knows? Scripture’s not giving us a commentary. Just because we read of Abel and Cain…by no means suggests that that’s the first children they had. It may have been – I believe Cain was probably reasonably to be understood as the first male child – because of Genesis 4:1.

But anyhow, whether or not she had seen much from her own children, she knew enough to know they were in a fix, and it was something beyond anything that could be repaired. They saw death happening all around. They knew where it was going. They had already heard the certain promise of death. I mean, you gotta go back to the beginning and watch this thing, because what we know…the prophets were immersed – and all the saints of Israel were immersed in the story – the unfolding story in history of promise and covenants.

They didn’t divert their time like we do to so many things. I mean, that was…they lived before the glut of media and everything. They had nothing to do with their time, if they were godly at all, but to contemplate and recontemplate, gurgitate and regurgitate the promises and covenants and implications.

So I was thinking this morning…in fact one of things in my dream with you was Peter’s statement when he said “the prophets inquired and searched diligently”. And what Peter there makes clear is there were…what made this such a source of puzzlement was not just what they didn’t know but what they did know. What they did know made what they didn’t know so incredibly attractive that they were completely occupied with searching with what or what manner of time. But the thing they did know – I’m gonna to come to this – they knew the glory and exaltation of Christ, but they also knew, by Peter’s own statement, they knew His sufferings, and the glory that would follow. And they knew the suffering came first. Oh I know that’s ABC, but you almost have to sometime recall the ABC to go on.

And Jesus, you know, in His gentle but firm reprimand of the two, I guess it was two wasn’t it, on the road to Emmaus? – “O fools and slow of heart not to believe all that the prophets had written, how that Christ should suffer, of necessity, and then enter into His glory.” So you’re having…now this is written by Luke…I believe it’s 1 Peter’s obviously written by Peter…so we’re talking about some real common core things that were circulating and almost – if you look at Peter – it almost sounds like Luke 24, like the words of Jesus.

So these are things that Peter thought a lot about. And then Luke, of course, in his account in Acts…you would think, well he’s just being Lukan, but actually, when you read Peter, he’s actually probably pretty closely quoting Peter, when Peter says how that the prophets testified beforehand of the sufferings of Christ…oh excuse me, that’s 2nd, that’s 1st Peter 1:11…I’m talking Acts chapter 3, that the things which all the prophets said that Christ should suffer – that’s verse 18, 3:18 – He has so fulfilled. Repent therefore and so on…and all the things which are still in the balance, still the…he’s given us the “already”, the unexpected “already” of the suffering Messiah, but now he’s giving us the “not yet” of the restitution of all things which all the prophets … of course, he means by that the Day of the Lord, the post-tribulational Day of the Lord.

That’s the big thing that all of revelational… you know, the basic…that’s what the whole book of Revelation’s about – the Day of the Lord. Why? Because we now know the mystery of a Lamb that was slain, who has all authority, who’s the…who is the curse-reversing Seed of the woman. We got that down. That has come, that’s been come for, that’s been sealed up…done deal. He’s ascended, He’s…you know, all that.
So, when you trace this promise back to what the prophets were contemplating – they knew that before ever a great king from David’s line could ever rule with a rod of iron out of Jerusalem, which was common-stock revelation right out of, right out of the Psalms…this is David, this is the Davidic covenant. But it’s also a corpus of Davidic promises. And then some of those reiterated – I think that Solomon wrote one of the psalms, didn’t he? Or some of them…and of course it’s carried on in the Davidic psalms, and even when David’s not writing the psalms, it’s so intimate with his tradition, that the sons of Asaph and all are echoing the same hope. And this is all – see now, I’m making a point of this – this is all before Isaiah comes along, with his glorious Song of Immanuel – Isaiah 7 through 12.

And then, as we recall, as you recall, when we were on that Isaiah track, we went right in to Isaiah 13, which is all about another…you know, here we had the Day of the Lord in Isaiah 2 – Jerusalem has become a harlot, etc. – and now we jump into the Day of the Lord again in Isaiah 13, and we’re dealing with the mystery of iniquity and they ask in the ultimate, in chapter 14, of Satan’s bid for the holy mount of God, and we got…So the whole issue of not just a day of the Lord, that would come in the imminent invasion of Assyria, but we begin to see sort of, multiple days of the Lord, ‘cuz even Isaiah is aware of a day of the Lord beyond the Assyrian invasion. He is aware, within his own body of prophecy. And this is early on, and even things that are credited to Isaiah, even by unbelieving…He is aware of a future Babylonian…you know, he mentions the…what is it? Who was with Cyrus? Not the Persians but the dual empire…[Tom: the Medes] The Medes…they were…the dual kingdom.

So here Isaiah’s jumped all the way from the imminent Assyrian threat – which would take away 10 tribes – to the Babylonian threat, and even to Babylon’s, and even beyond that, to a deliverer named Cyrus, and it’s so rich when you see these guys could not have been unaware of a long time. Not just a day of the Lord that’s gonna come and finish this right away, and “Oops, that wasn’t it, so now let’s talk about”…
It didn’t work that way. They saw the multiple layers. We can show evidence. It takes a little time. It’s an enterprise I’ve never set upon, but we can show from Scripture the necessary layers and what they would have understood necessarily from their own prophecies, that this wasn’t gonna just come and be finished right away. We were gonna be visited with the powers of that Day of the Lord. It was going to prevail, and take away 10 tribes, but there would be a remnant, thus and so. Now with Jerusalem threatened, and some real loss there, but Jerusalem survives and they escape, and we’re seeing, “Okay, that wasn’t the Day of the Lord; it was a threat”, but, they keep moving the Day of the Lord ahead.
But my point is they were conscious of that moving the Day of the Lord ahead. So they had to be conscious of a Day of the Lord that wasn’t just gonna come and suddenly finish it. And even the way the prophets would speak about the Day of the Lord as imminent, near, at hand…so many metaphors, or what’s the word?…All the references to an imminent Day of the Lord, which prophets living 150 years after an earlier prophet who spoke of it as imminent, as near, at hand, about to break upon us – they’re still speaking about it, and they’re very aware of a prophet a century and a half removed from them earlier, who had used that same language of a day of the Lord that didn’t come and complete itself in that earlier time.

So the prophets are used to this… you know, this phenomenon of near and far that we’ve spoken of. But they’re also used to this unique kind of biblical view of chronology, where there’s this ultimate climax that concludes history. But it has a tendency, or it can visit history at times with all of the claim and all of the judgment, and all of the terror of that Day. Just like the Lord can come and bring the blessings of that coming Day in a firstfruit, in an earnest. He also has brought, many times, the threat, and the terminalness of that climactic day as it would impinge upon a generation that had sunk particularly low in its moral defection from God, and had by that defection had brought near the day of the Lord in its judgments and in its terrors, although they might actually be overwhelmed by an invading Gentile nation or whatever, or come under plagues, and judgments and so forth. And yet it would not be the finality of the Day of the Lord.

So you have this amazing…but I mean, I’ve heard people touch on this, but I’ve never seen a work that really takes the time to prove these incredible nuances, [gap]… the affect of the Day of the Lord. And you have that with the promise. For example…in a….first, it was Joshua and Zerubbabel, the high priest…and the royal seed, the governor, Zerubbabel. They come back with what was it? 42,000 or something. They immediately recover the altar. The temple begins to be built, or…it was a construction that would soon be suspended and checked, or it would be stopped by the enemies. And it would wait – 15 years later they would resume that.

But all that was a “day of small things”, right? They had a consciousness, when they went back – and we can question whether or not they would have had the book of Daniel, ready to hand. I don’t know – they may have, they may not have. We don’t find, as far as I know, direct reference to Daniel. So it’s possible…this is days when you didn’t have the printing press and whatever…so the book of Daniel had not been…But in any event, here they are, back in the land, and then they would be followed later, of course, by Ezra, and still later, by Nehemiah, right? This is the…and it was presented as a day of small things.
They would speak about imminent revival, they would speak about an imminent restoring of the temple and the sacred institutions of covenant. And they had a little revival, but they were all conscious and aware that this revival would give way to apostasy and an ultimate Day of the Lord. Right in the prophets! In the very prophets of the revival – Haggai and Zechariah, and then later, Malachi probably had time to already see the real setting in of apostasy. But these were…and there was a mixed group, and there was definitely need for repentance and strong prophetic censure and so forth in the reforms that Nehemiah or Ezra particularly was imposing.

But the point of it is, there was a lot of encouragement. There was a little rejoicing. What is this but a real installment on the promise of Jeremiah that you’ll go home after 70 years. And when you go back, even though you will not be fit to inherit the full golden era of the reign of Messiah, and as they conceived of it, of an abiding possession of the land by an all-holy nation, still, you’re gonna go back, you’re gonna have a day of small things, there’s gonna be some reviving.

And then Daniel’s gonna tell us, that you’re gonna be there for a long time. There’s gonna be a complete age of Gentiles, that’s gonna be at least 490 years, from the time the decree is given to restore and build Jerusalem. From that decree, you’re talking 490, in your own conceptual universe – you know, their expectation. They’re not seeing, you know, they’re not seeing dying Messiahs, and they’re not seeing, you know, gaps or any other thing. What they’re seeing is 490 years, and the exile’s over. Now we’re in the land, but most of our people are not even here, nor will they ever be reunited with us here, and come out of exile.

So in a way, even when you have them in the land and they’re under a suzerainty or a tribute to some great Gentile power, be it Persia, or later, Rome or whatever, there’s still, in a way of speaking, an exile, even in the land because they’re conscious that the larger part of what is promised, of the reuniting of the scattered tribes is clearly waiting what they all clearly expected continually – that tribulation, that would be the climactic final time of a final Gentile aggressor. And when an end would be made of him, and Messiah would be back to rule on David’s throne for a thousand years, okay then, now we’ve got the promise. And with that, Daniel’s gonna say you’ve also got a resurrection from the dead, you’ve got…Isaiah’s gonna say that too – Isaiah, in Isaiah 26, you’re very well aware, says that when Israel’s getting raised and restored, and the final Gentile aggressor is being…his yoke is being broken, well then, my dead body’s gonna rise with yours.

And this is at the end of the time when the woman has been in travail, has, you know, been in great trouble. And the indignation is overpassed, and the earth is no longer covering up its slain. Well, all this is language for resurrection, which was not new even to Isaiah ‘cuz he knew that even Job had spoken about his resurrection in the latter day, when by the way, he would see his Redeemer’s feet, literally saying, “I will see His feet standing on the earth.” And where does He stand on the earth? – Zechariah 14.

My point here is that these prophets all knew this earlier repository of Hebraic faith and expectation. These guys were not, you know, just writing their books out of the blue. But one thing I do want to say, they were amazing in one thing: they were terse and let’s call it chaste. They were…there was a chastity about what they commented on, what they extrapolated. Who of us could write a revelation without adding our interpretations and applications and so on. These guys kept it. You know they inferred and considered and contemplated much beyond the text. But they kept it to the text. What the Lord gave, they gave – even when they would puzzle over what they were giving. They gave what the Lord gave.

And you can see that with Daniel. There’s no way that Daniel, in light of what he had inherited, (and I’m coming to this in a minute)…that in light of what Daniel’d inherited, there’s no way that he didn’t make inferences, extrapolations, and build even perhaps, and more than anything, probably…I mean he very probably built expectations…that we don’t have written. We don’t have Daniel chapter 13, or whatever else.

So these guys…all we know is from the testimony of the New Testament, that says they all pored over these things, they puzzled over these things. What were they doing? They were putting pieces together, and I think they put a lot of pieces together. There were explicit Scriptures mentioning…that add up to one thing: the necessary death of Messiah. Not just because of Isaiah 53 verse 8. Not just because of Daniel 9:26, or of a psalm, in a rich typology, or of an afflicted Joseph being typified in the piercing of Messiah. All that’s there. And then the smiting of the Judge – which has capable alternative interpretations, but which one pretty much beginning to see the necessary suffering of the Messiah, particularly at the hand of His own nation.

You could begin to put those pieces together, but my point is, even without those, you still had what you would call the theological logic of the necessity of a dying Messiah, someone who would occupy a substitutionary suffering role that would bear the brunt – or I call it, taking the “hit in the heel”. The hit in the heel of Messiah. He takes the hit, and now because of that hit He bears, He is able to reverse the curse for everyone else.

And we’ve talked about this before. You know, even Abraham and his contemplations of what it would take – “If I’m going to go into a land…I mean, I’m going to die at a good old age, and my boy, who hasn’t even got here yet (I’m thinking of Genesis 15). He’s coming along…we’ve already seen, it’s gotta be him, it can’t be…he’s going to come along, and he’s going to go into another nation, apparently with his family or whatever…and they’re gonna come out after 400 years.” The nation, of course, proved to be Egypt. Now, if this is…now you know, I know our liberal critics, they don’t want this to be Abraham actually believe…But we know very well, and have an unswerving conviction that Abraham was being…that he was in a unilateral covenant as unasleep??? 21:15 with God. He was learning about the distant migration, exodus and re-exodus of his people back out of this foreign land, with great substance.

And then He turns around and says, “Now take this boy, and you go ahead”, and when he arrives – this is chapters later – now the boy has shown up, little miracle boy is here. “But take miracle boy and let’s go over here, and let’s sacrifice him.” And already he’s saying, “Me and the lad are going over here. We’ll be back. He knows very well that his God is a God who raises the dead, and this young boy can’t die – he can die, but he can’t stay dead – because he’s got to have a family down in Egypt, and not only is he coming back to this land to inherit it forever, with this boy, I will inherit it forever.

What could that be? I just leave it to your imagination. Of course Abraham is expecting that this is the seed of the woman! Eve expected…she was wrong in who she thought it was, but she was right in her expectation – that “a man, even the Lord”, not just someone from the Lord, or with the help of the Lord, like our translators, you know, try to helpfully supply – they think they’re helping. But this, clearly in the text, jumps rightly – “I’ve gotten a man, the Lord.” That’s all it tells you. And you could even have put in the word, “even the Lord”, or “with the help…”…you can mess with it all you want. But she knew someone unique, and therefore, I would submit, Divine. Someone that was more than mere man, would be…and these are people who had inherited…what we learned later…they had all kinds of tradition, and…not tradition that was handed down, but I mean immediately, they knew, they knew the conversation with Satan, they knew implications that the later prophets suggest, like we were touching in our conference there in Ohio – Ezekiel and others, Satan’s aspiration for the mount of God and all that. Where could that have come from but Adam and Eve? Unless it’s just straight-out revelation.

I submit there is more of a body of understanding and tradition that they had access to. So when Even made that statement, “a man, even the Lord”, she knew this had to be someone who could take on the greatest angel of all except for God Himself. Well I won’t say the greatest angel, ‘cuz there’s Michael, and of course…But Jesus is no angel; He’s no created being. But I’m saying, someone’s taking on this mighty antagonist of God, that was so slick and cunning, that it could move Adam and Eve from their innocent trust into sin. I mean, this is…this guy knew stuff, and Travis is the best I know of on the planet to bring out what Satan necessarily conceived and knew and aspired. I mean, Travis’s work on that is brilliant. But they would have inherited that. That’s not something showing up in a biblical text that we look back and put pieces together. There’s a lot of things that Adam and Eve would have understood.
My point here is that someone that could take on angel – this is superhuman stuff; this is not just another person, or man or something – has to come and be born of the human line, out of the woman’s line. And why does it say “seed of the woman”? Already, we’re suggesting, something is bypassing the seed of man. And so, I mean…she’s having natural fertility with Adam, obviously, but she’s even now jumping the gun and assuming beyond, but she’s doing it on the basis of a good and sound expectation. “Something has got to be greater than us, that’s coming through us, that can reverse a curse of this magnitude.”

That’s big stuff, and this is what the prophets were all looking back to and expecting. So now we come to…we’ve seen Abraham. He certainly conceiving of this necessary curse-reversing seed, and he’s thinking “It’s gonna be this miracle boy”. Then he looks ahead, when the miracle boy is spared, and I think that it’s exactly there – you can take it, you can think otherwise – but I personally believe that it’s exactly there that he was able, through that very event – not through some premonition – but through that very event, he saw the One who would not be spared. “He looked ahead and saw My day”, Jesus says, “and rejoiced when he saw and was glad.”

Why? Because he saw that “It’s not my boy, but there was one come who will indeed do what I was thinking about my boy. My boy’s being spared. He is going down, and with my boy, and with His nation, and with me personally. We’re going to inherit this land in a way that dying people, that dead people can’t inherit.”
What’s he talking about here? Not one word about resurrection, but it’s all about resurrection. Well, the resurrection of Isaac was clearly inferred. We know that from Hebrews. But it’s all about the hope of resurrection.

But my point is, it’s the hope of resurrection predicated entirely on the expectation of the woman’s seed, who would be greater and unique from all other spawn and genera and natural procreation. You see what I’m saying? So, now you’re moving and now you’re picking up the promises of a Davidic king. We’re talking, no longer is it just the line of Abraham, not even Judah, now we’ve come to David, son of Jesse, stem out of the rod of David. So here’s Jesse, and he’s going to be the heir of all this. He’s got a covenant that his children, even if they break them… you know, all these glorious things about the…the already…the early intimations of an everlasting covenant, building and enlarging on the Abrahamic covenant.

Not a covenant without conditions, but a covenant that’s unilateral, in the sense that God Himself will see after the fulfillment of those conditions in a way that will not depend on man, in which already you have the seminal consciousness of grace and works. It’s the whole issue of God’s initiative, His prerogative, His grace, versus man’s ability to win the race, or keep up with the race.

So here is God taking these special initiatives, and demonstrating His whole character and nature through this nation to be set apart for Himself as a sign nation. They’re an object lesson nation. And so now you’re coming to Isaiah. Now we’re at where I wanted to go.

We’re at Isaiah’s Song of Immanuel, and Isaiah’s speaking about a current, imminent threat. You know the story there, Tom. Maybe you can jump in here, and just kinda set that up. But you know, there is an alliance between the king of Syria – not Assyria, but Syria – and of the Northern Kingdom, and they’re getting together, and they’re trying to coerce…which king was it? Was it Ahaz? They’re trying to coerce…who was the southern king? The northern king…you remember their names? [Tom: Rezin] Yeah, Rezin, which is the king of Syria, and who else was it? Remaliah, or, what’s his name? They got together…they’re trying to counter the Assyrian threat, and they try to coerce the southern king, which is Isaiah? – Isaiah’s a prophet who was in the very court of the southern kingdom of Israel. Isaiah 8 gives you the… right from the opening verses of Isaiah 8, I recall, is talking about the alliance, the attempt.

And so…what it’s all about is this imperilled the royal seed, the royal line. Now this is something I’ve learned from commentators. I didn’t spot it right off. So, I don’t ever fully trust this. But check…I consider it really probable. Commentators say what was really at stake here in the Song of Immanuel, was the threat to the royal line of David. Because Ahaz was not joining the confederacy, with Rezin and whoever the other northern king of the northern kingdom was. Because of that, and because he thought it was a failed project that would likely lose to the king of Assyria and then he’d be paying for it, as they would be paying for it, he didn’t want to get into it with them, if I recall.

And so, he, however gracefully or ungracefully, bows out, and then that threatens him, because now they’re going to lead a siege against him. So he’s not being immediately being threatened with Assyria, but he’s being threatened immediately with this alliance of the northern ten tribes of Israel with the king of Syria, who are trying to create – sorta, what is it…a buffer zone for a check of the expansionism of Assyria. Right? So these guys are getting together, and they’re gonna say, “We’re going to take it out on you, Ahaz. Your kingdom’s going down. You’re gonna be brought…you’re gonna be a conscript. You’re going to be brought into this alliance or you’re going to be conquered, as a result of your non-compliance.

Am I assessing it reasonably well there? And so, commentators tell us that what was really being threatened here was a tremendous danger and threat to the survival of the line of David. And here comes Isaiah with this bold prophecy. He’s gonna be very bold later with Hezekiah when he’s being threatened by Assyria itself. That’s way up around Isaiah…but, here we are, way back in the early goings of Isaiah’s prophecy, and he’s taking..uh, he’s inserting the word of God to this…isn’t it Ahaz, who is the king of the southern kingdom?

And Isaiah says…Isaiah challenges him, “Ask of God a sign.” Oh here’s an important part of this reflection. “Ask the Lord a sign.” Of course, he waxes pious and declines, in a way that very much grieves the Lord, of course. He gave him a choice, “Ask a sign.” And here’s the key word – this was pointed out to me by Spurgeon – ask the sign, but don’t just…this is not just any sign. This is a sign of such a magnitude, your little mind can roam from heaven to earth beneath. From heaven above to earth beneath, we want a sign, we want you to request a sign that really is a sign. You know, Isaiah would later talk about the sun moving – major sign.

And so he waxes pious and declines, really which was a statement, not of faith, but of unbelief. And Isaiah says, “Okay then, fine. The Lord Himself will give you a sign. He will…this virgin will conceive…and so many commentators, our anti-missionary Jewish friends and others will make great point of the fact that alternative Hebrew words and so forth, and they’ll make great point of the fact that he’s talking about a virgin visible, ready to hand, perhaps even his own wife, who had already brought forth children who had these prophetic names.

Such is that, but before this virgin will, before a child born to this young woman…they’re trying to reduce this prophe…this sign down to something very manageable, when God Himself is outdoing Ahaz, for what Ahaz declined to do, was to give a sign beyond the magnitude of anything…or up to and including anything he could think of, in heaven above or in earth beneath. Then God says, “I’m going to give you a sign.” You’re telling me the sign that God gives is just, okay here’s a local woman who’s young, and she’s gonna have a child, and before that child matures, this northern menace is going to evaporate. Right?…you’ll no longer be threatened. This is all going to blow over, Ahaz. It’s all going to blow over, before this child can choose the good and the evil, and eat honey and milk, or whatever. I have forgotten the prophecy exactly.

When really…look at this though…this is Isaiah! He’s expecting a curse-reversing seed of the woman on the throne of David. He’s expecting something of the magnitude of the One who will destroy the antichrist in Isaiah 11:4. He’s expecting someone of the magnitude who will rule out of a redeemed Zion – chapter 12. You see what I’m saying here? He’s looking for that one. And he’s saying, “Here’s the Lord’s sign to you!”

I’m saying to the anti-missionaries and the commentators, and all the guys, “Give me a break!” I’m saying that: “Give me a break!” This is…you’ve gotta go back and get what this prophet’s thinking. He doesn’t have a minimal God like you do, who can only work within the range of a closed system of cause and effect in nature like you do. He’s got a God, this is a God who raises the dead in Isaiah’s large, large faith. And he’s looking for a sign on the magnitude of something above or heaven beneath, and he’s saying, “It’s invested in this woman…who’s gonna have a child, and this is gonna be the Son of David, who’s gonna reverse the curse. And how can you reverse it unless there’s a wound?…unless there’s a hit in the heel? Pick up here.

And Isaiah, I’m just putting this…I’m gonna talk about this up here in Isaiah 40 through 53. We’re gonna get to this curse being reversed, and we’re gonna find out it’s all about the smiting and despising of your..of My own nation. And we’re gonna find out that He was cut off from the land of the living. But He doesn’t stay cut off – He rises and He sees His seed, and the pleasure of the Lord prospers in His hand.
What is this but the sin-reversing curse, born from the woman’s seed, born from David’s line, born of a virgin. You see the logic? It’s a theological logic! It’s not just about battling tit-for-tat over every little exegetical nuance in all these passages.

There is a great case that can be made. I recommend a book by Walter Kaiser called Messiah. I recommend the wonderful work of Michael Brown and others who argue pantheist versus alma? and all the different…I can’t even correctly, all the different things, and you can make a case – it’s a good and reasonable case.

But I’m saying if all that fell short, what doesn’t fall short is the theological necessity of a woman’s child who is out of David’s line, who has bypassed the Fall, and the power and curse of the Fall, whose able to reverse the curse, which means taking on the great dragon, that began this whole problem, through his seduction of the first pair.

Major stuff here! So let’s get on the scale of Hebraic magnitude, and get off this limited…you know…trucking along here with these imaginative apocalyptic scenarios that really, you don’t really believe, because if you…these prophets really believed this.

So now we’re coming to Daniel. Now, and so we’re talking about this day of small things and yet we’re looking for a day of the Lord. We’re always looking for this great, climactic, final Day of the Lord – now, the Old Testament wouldn’t use language like mystery of iniquity, we’ll leave that to Paul. But they understood very well that this final aggressor would try to take the holy hill of God.

And while he’s in the attempt of doing that, the Lord’s going to come back to Zion, and rule and reign. You know,…and Israel will be at the end of their power. Moses said there’s a tribulation coming when they’ll seek Me with their whole heart. Then I’ll circumcise their heart, and then and only then, because there’s not just a meagre little remnant, but because the nation’s wholly born in a day. Then we’ll have the land forever.

So all these prophets are not looking for just…they’re looking…Isaiah will talk about a new heavens and new earth. But they would not distinguish; they would blend all that. What they would see very clearly, and beyond gainsay, they would see a climactic transitional tribulation, that would be…they’d lived in tribulation. They knew their people were appointed to tribulation. They knew they were under a time of the heel of the Gentiles. Not just with Rome, but for a long time. And that would continue until we can call it the redemption, or the end of the Gulag, the end of the exile.

And so, all the prophets are waiting for that transition at the Great Tribulation, a tribulation significantly like no other, and that would end in nothing less, and short of the climactic, age-ending Day of the Lord, resurrection of the dead, destruction of Antichrist, and so on. Out of Zion would rule a King for a thousand…with a rod of iron. Nothing said yet about a thousand years. Everything they’re putting, though, is significantly on the other side of that tribulation. Israel’s delivered at the end of the worst tribulation in history. They all knew that; that’s common stock.

Now they knew that when that takes place, that the King from David’s line, He is…let’s say, “Up and at ‘em!” He is risen, whatever He…whenever and wherever He died, or may have died, whether in the last battle with Gog, as some have said, or whenever they, wherever they put that…and this is what I’m coming to. If they put that death anywhere besides right at the very end, which is where I suspect most prophets probably put it, and even good…some rabbis who weren’t so busy running…you know, in a reactive way to Christian apologetics or polemics, running the other direction, they even quite reasonably said, they expected a messiah ben Joseph to fall in the battle of Gog, and he would be raised by Messiah ben David. And they had a view of martyrs having a kind of an atonement quality. They had all kinds of notions of that. So they weren’t too far from conceding something of an atonement-like nature connected with, not necessarily with the one Messiah who had come twice, but with a messiah figure, who would be raised. So they had concepts like that. So things are there.

But what probably would have been seen by a John the Baptist, who said “You’re the Lamb of God”, or by a Simeon, was that after a ministry of division – I want to really, really stress that – the Messiah’s ministry would be like Moses said: people would be cut off from the nation in relation to what they did with this prophet. This is not just another prophet; this is decisive. True, in some sense of other prophets, but this is the…”Are you that prophet?” they would ask John. The people at least, at that time had a clear conception of someone who was not the Messiah, who was not Elijah, but was that prophet.
So they didn’t know how to put all this together, but one thing they knew about that prophet, he would have a ministry of division. So Simeon said, “This child is set for the fall and rise…”. John the Baptist would say “the Lamb”. You’re gonna get yourself in a lot of trouble, and your own nation is going to despise you. And… it says that in Isaiah, your own nation will abhor you and hate you. And you’ll be rejected, and you’re gonna die in that.

But the thought that death would be preceded, at some great distance from the resurrection, was probably very, very unclear. I mean very unclear, because they knew you were going to die, but for all they knew, you’ll get up pretty quick after that, and when you get up, watch out! Goodbye Antichrist, goodbye enemies, everything. But you are going to die!

And the prophets intimate – more than intimate – they say, “You’re going to die at the hands of your own people.” They’re the ones…it’s not the nations out here that are hating you; it’s your own guys. So the prophets are already anticipating John chapter 1, when “He came to His own, and His own received Him not”. And we can, at some opportunity, go back and try and ferret out and pull out those particular prophecies. But, it would be His own people not some invading force that would smite the Judge of Israel. It would be His own people…it would, they would pierce Him…and that’s why they would have this incredible repentance. So this incredible mystery is being laid out, here a little and there a little, all throughout the prophets.

The glory of this mystery is that when you look back in light of the revelation of the mystery of the gospel, the whole landscape lights up in the face of Christ. It’s glorious! Everywhere you look, it’s Jesus! Everywhere you look, it’s a two-coming, twice-coming, necessarily dying, necessarily rising Messiah.

And you can debate whether there’s a gap between, or whatever, but one things for sure: this…and now, even before you get there, this is someone who’s been…somehow he has to be on earth, to brought up in the clouds of heaven, to ascend to the right hand of God, where He occupies that session. This is that interim. So now, you even begin to see, when you come along to Daniel, you find out about a Messiah the prince, that will be cut off.

Now here’s what I’ve laboured all this to say: now, with all this in mind, now I’m coming to where I was in my dream with you, Tom. And that is, what would Daniel…now Daniel, like we said, he’s chaste, he’s not going to tell you more than the Lord gave. But how could he not have, in reflection of his own prophecy, in light of what he’d inherited from other prophets, how could he not have thought, that, if you’re going to talk about the end of the times of the Gentiles, when all this exilic suffering for his people will be over once and for all, if you’re going to talk about that, how can you not conceive of it in light of a sin-reversing seed of the woman?

Would Daniel not have read Isaiah, like we are pretty well assured Isaiah…we can make the case how Isaiah would have conceived, how Isaiah would have read. And Daniel would have conceived and read less than that? No, Daniel knows about a virgin-born, sin-reversing…he’s just not filling his pages with his own commentary. That was not his job, and the Divine superintender of this progressive mystery made sure, that had anyone had an impulse like that, you know, it would be lost, or whatever.

In other words, all we know is what God gave these writers. And that is something…interesting consideration! I mean, take that in. With all the commentary you would have expected these men of already-recognized authority to have added, it doesn’t survive to this day. It didn’t get added. So, God is literally preserving a mystery that He’s really requiring that His maskilim wrestle and deal with, and piece it together with trembling, and guarded care, and not haste, and not…you know, presumption – just delicately. And the prophets wrestled, and contemp…and meditated.

So here’s Daniel. Now he sees – my point is he sees this son of Man that comes…before He comes in clouds of heaven, as we know from Acts 1:11, Revelation 1:7, Acts 3:21…before He comes back in the way you saw Him go…Daniel 7 doesn’t emphasize that so much. Daniel 7…you know…’cuz we’re going to come to this thing about the 490 years that were he expected??, but Daniel 7 is going to take us up to the throne. He comes…I used to really struggle with this, because our Amill friends would make much of the fact “You pre-mills want Him to come down in clouds of heaven. ‘Cuz Jesus wants you…pre-mills…they would object and say, “You guys want Him to come with the clouds of heaven, and rule all nations, and all that. But we’re going to point out to you that He comes up to heaven in the clouds of heaven, and that’s where His kingdom is, out of heaven.”

Well before you come back in clouds, you first have to go up in clouds. And the point of Scripture is, He goes both ways in the clouds. It’s a…you know, an up-and-down motion. He goes up, as the ascended, now-to-be-glorified Son of Man at the right hand, to take His place, according to the prophecy of ?David – at the right hand of God, expecting…expecting what? Till He would come back and destroy the Antichrist with the breath of His lips, until His enemies be made His footstool, and not just for Him spiritually, you know.

But yet there is this spiritual dimension which is precious. It’s Yea and Amen. And we’re never denying that, but our replacement friends latch hold of the spiritual side, and they conveniently…I think rather, you know…carelessly throw out the physical, and they don’t see a necessity of return, or a kingdom on earth, and particularly with regard to Israel. So they eviscerate. They, they, they just, you know, omit, throw out, toss out…all that – I think rather flagrantly. But they preserve, thankfully, the spiritual revelation of a precious presence of the kingdom, of a precious access to the Holy Spirit, and of the life of the age to come.

So they’ve got…we’re right with ‘em. We’re standing right with them in the “already”. But they want us to toss out the “not yet”. They want to have a very barren or a very sparse “not yet”, of just a return of Christ, and just, you know, burn up the earth and start the new heavens and new earth. And so they’re committed to a new creation, but they don’t want to think in terms of a creation where God vindicates something with Israel or…In other words, they take all the prophecies of the Day of the Lord and the things that follow the Day of the Lord, and they radically reinterpret and spiritualize that, on the basis of a few questionable interpretations from the New Testament.

But if they ever stood with us, in our understanding of a necessary tribulation that centres on Israel, not just a tribulation that envelops the earth in massive destruction. That’s not how the prophets conceived of it. It would get to that stage, but before it did, it would start in Jerusalem.

So I think one of the key things, the most defensible things of our whole position, and something that should – rightly – buy us, or “inform” is a better word, how we read those questionable New Testament texts that our replacement friends are, you know, overloading or underloading, with implications for Israel, and for a future Day of the Lord that would answer to the prophetic perspective and the expectation of the Hebrew prophets. They weren’t wrong about everything; they just didn’t know everything. There were things that would come into better light, but that didn’t mean the complete removal of what they fully expected. It simply means the addition and the enhancement of this wonderful mystery that would show us this age between and its implications. They never…never does it discard or throw out. You’re still waiting for a restitution of all things, a return to Zion. You’re still waiting for a Jerusalem to be trodden underfoot, and the Deliverer to come Zion. You’re still waiting for all this.

So it’s a tragic misstep to take what the prophets didn’t know, that came to light in the gospel, and use that as an instrument to completely, you know, dismantle all that they fully and rightly expected. So Daniel here, he’s waiting for, in the days of these ten kings, which by the way, John knew…even as late as wherever you put the book of Revelation. I put in at 96, they put it at 66. But wherever you put the early or late date, it doesn’t matter. John is aware that a tribulation hasn’t started yet. It’s not this whole inter-advent period, because here he is, way into this period, and it hasn’t started yet, but…and an Antichrist hasn’t come yet. We’ve got a bad guy now, he’s on the scene. But the really bad guy’s still ahead, and when he’s gonna come, he’s gonna continue for a short space, and his days…in the day’s of this last beast, the ten kings, which are his immediate contemporaries.

So Daniel says, the kingdom’s gonna come on earth, we’re gonna be done with our Babylons and our…you know, our Romes, and our Greeces and all these guys. All the Gentiles, they’re gonna be done…we’re gonna be done with them, in the days of these ten kings. Well where are these ten kings? They’re the ones who are contemporaries with the Beast, the Beast that’s going to get his body put in the burning flame (Daniel 7:11), in Revelation 19:20, at the end of this age, at a place…you know, right around the Armageddon time. And then’s gonna begin a thousand years.

But when does that thousand years begin? According to John in his revelation, according to Daniel, it’s in the days of these ten kings. I say ten. It says, it says in Daniel 2 verse 44, “the days of these kings”, but it is a necessary inference, not just one that you might make, but one that you really should make – that the ten kings in Daniel 7 are shown to be contemporaries with the little horn. And the little horn in Daniel 7 and 8 is the same Antichrist that we’re looking at up here in Paul and John and Jesus in the New Testament.

So, to not see these things are really…it’s really not sophisticated academics. This is basic Bible reading, comparing Scripture with Scripture, accessible to any lay student of Scripture. This is not rarified, academic hard stuff. It’s basic stuff. But these presuppositions build up.

But I want to come back to Daniel now. So Daniel is looking for, “When’s all this exile gonna end? When are we gonna have the Gentile heel off our neck? When is the kingdom of David gonna be here?” Well, we know from Jeremiah and others, it’s got to come after this unequalled trouble. But until that unequalled trouble comes, way down at the end of the 490, we’re gonna have this long period of time, and we might have a little revival at the beginning, but we’re gonna sink into an apostasy. Zechariah, the very prophet of revival, was telling us, you know, “Let’s have a day of small things. It’s a little reviving, but let’s look ahead, let’s be a little realistic here. We’re going to have our houses rifled, our women will be ravished. The Day of the Lord’s coming, and it’s not coming ‘cuz we’re in the heyday of our piety, but we have sunk to a low ebb in our impiety and in our covenant defection. And the Day of the Lord comes upon a truly apostate Israel, excepting, of course, the ever-present remnant.

But here comes the Day of the Lord. I mean, the remarkable thing. Malachi is a major prophet of the Day of the Lord. Haggai doesn’t use the term “Day of the Lord”, but he talks about the shaking of all things…you know, and a greater house than the one that was about to be built. I don’t think he was…I may be wrong in that – but I don’t want to try to overload this.

Let me get back to the simple part that really will light things up for us. So Daniel comes along, he’s seeing the days of these ten kings, he’s seeing this Antichrist, he sees a Messiah who’s first gone up, who obviously has to come down to destroy this man. He knows that from Isaiah. Paul quotes Isiaah 11 verse 4 in the Septuagint translation -perfectly says that no one less the Messiah Himself destroys the Antichrist, the ungodly one, and it’s talkin’ about a personal individual, not the wicked in general. In the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, which is what Paul’s using, he applies it to the Antichrist. It says, “then shall with the breath of His lips, He shall, He will destroy the UO, Ungodly One”, and Paul says in Second Thessalonians, “then shall that [capital W, uppercase W,] Wicked be revealed.”

We’re talking about an individual. We’re not talking about just about the destruction of the wicked in general. This is the final aggressor. This is the one that Daniel sees. They all knew this. So, Daniel sees that the days of these 10 kings are obviously going to be contemporary with this final aggressor, after which Israel will be liberated, and all the promises of lying down safely, the children of wickedness no longer afflicting them as beforetime, all that would now come to fulfillment. And the rod-iron rule of the King, of the greater Son of David…

I mean, if Jesus is saying to ‘em, “Whose son is David’s?”, don’t think that men of Daniel’s stature wasn’t thinking, “Wait a minute. Who is David’s son, if he’s his Lord?” That’s not original with Jesus! That was in glorious, perfect wisdom, put by Jesus to His peers and contemporaries, but you can believe very well, these guys had an upper story contemplation of these incredible aspects of this mystery.
So he’s looking for One who ascends, and if He ascends, and we’re talking about a kingdom on earth, over all languages and tongues, and it’s gonna be here in the place the stone’s gonna hit, and it’s called this earth under (underline under), under the whole heaven, not off in an ethereal???..but what the Hebrews expected – the kingdom of God on earth – if he’s looking for that, then he’s looking for the return of the King. Now, that’s just there. It’s just in the text.

And now, that he invested all that with what we so well see in retrospect – of the ascended, suffering Seed of the woman, who’s taken the hit in the heel. He’s gone now, up in clouds, to the right hand of the Majesty on high, waiting for that interim, you know. If we could understand that, I don’t think that Daniel had a problem with at least conceiving that. Just ‘cuz we don’t have his own…Daniel’s commentary, doesn’t mean these men weren’t right on top of a lot of this. Now, there’s plenty there to puzzle about! But also, there was an awful lot to know.

And um, so here is this Son of man ascending, and clearly, He doesn’t stay there. He rules on the earth, out of Zion. That’s gotta happen, and that doesn’t happen until He comes to destroy the Antichrist in the days of these kings (Dan. 2:44, Revelation 17) “The days of these 10 kings” – that puts it as contemporary with the final Beast, not a long line of beasts. So the days of these kings comes out of a…there’s a little horn that comes out of a fourth, and in his days, there’s ten contemporary kings he forces by conscription, 3 of them into the orbit of his power. And he takes his initiatives against Jerusalem and all that. That’s there. You see it in the New Testament. This is not…

I can’t get these guys who say when you come to the New Testament, there’s no mention of land. Oh yeah?! What’s Jerusalem? What’s Judea? What’s a temple of God, and where is it? Is it in Utah City? I mean, this is amazing, that we say there’s not a land issue in the New Testament, when the whole eschatology, not of the Old, but of the New, which is just a reiteration of the Old, puts it right at Jerusalem. Yes, there’s a tribulation that’s going to cover the earth, and destroy a multitude and all that. But that is later.
It all begins in Judea. It all begins there. You can show it. You can show that it clearly begins there…that Jerusalem’s a cup of trembling, the controversy of Zion. I think our strong point is to begin any discussion with our Amill friends and others is this is a Judeo-centric tribulation. It’s not an amorphous tribulation where bad guys chase good guys at the time of the end. That’s just not what the Scriptures present, it’s not what the prophets expected, it’s not what the New Testament expected. It’s not how Jesus, Paul, and John used, interpreted and applied Daniel. It’s just not. You have to take all kinds of license and liberties to not just put…they use these big words – intertextuality – well let’s be intertextual. Let’s look within the book of Daniel, how he is using it, how he understands it. Then let’s look if Jesus changes all that, or if Paul changes all that, or in fact, if they’re quoting all that, and applying it in a way that shows a completely common understanding with Daniel himself.

I mean this is the great fallacy of our time, and we’re just not close students. And we’ve taken liberties – well-intentioned – but because we’ve received these traditions from our mentors – some of them even led us to the Lord, they’ve discipled us, they’re a blessing. But we allow their influence to keep us from a calling to be the priesthood of every believer. I mean, God is going to hold you responsible, not for the good things, but for the bad things you took in with the good things, and never questioned, and never made sure of, and never proved it out in your own heart, and your own consulting of the Holy Spirit. You didn’t tremble at the text. You took a good man’s word for it. Well he, no question he’s a good man, but God’s gonna hold you accountable for your pick-and-choose approach to what you’re going to be responsible to make proof of. It says everywhere in the Scriptures, “Prove all things.” And “Study to show yourself…” not your mentor, but “show yourself approved to God.” And so, the confusion of good men, whom we’ve received so much good from, becomes one of the greatest snares to buy…to buy in to the whole thing.

Well, that’s a little aside, but…I’m just trying to cover some things, for the sake of future reference and notes, ‘cuz a lot of this, I have it written down. That’s why…I know you’re recording this, so I’m throwing a lot in there, in view of that, not that this would be viewed by anyone, but that I would have some notes to reference…some thought-starters.

So, we’re coming now to Daniel. I want to get to where I was with you in the dream. I’m just setting the stage – Daniel 7. This is the ascended, curse-reversing seed of the woman, has now accomplished what’s not written here in Daniel 7, but which is assumed, logically. But now you’re gonna have in Daniel 9 what is more than just assumed – it’s gonna be written, in the very language of Isaiah 53:8. Messiah…an anointed leader is one way it could be legitimately translated, but my question is, is that legitimate when you’re talking about Daniel, in his obvious retrospect view of a cumulative glorious implications of One who must conquer the serpent, through an atonement of Himself?

And you’re looking at what’s gonna end the exile. You’re looking at what’s gonna end the time of the Gentiles. You’re looking at what’s gonna bring the King back, as a risen Man to see His seed, to prolong His days…You’re looking at all that, and you’re not…and you’re telling me we can talk about an anointed prince, and he’s just Onias the Third, or somebody, as one of our own brothers said…way off up there in the future, as this is just an anointed…this is just some high priest or…No! Can’t be!

Now here’s what’s interesting. If He is Messiah the prince…and who else could He be?…and He’s cut off, and He’s the one who will see His seed, through whom the dead will rise, through whom Daniel (in Daniel 12:13) will rise, and through Whom Israel will be delivered, who, as we will learn later, will be the One who comes in clouds, to destroy the Beast and put his body in the burning flame (Daniel 11), this is end time stuff. Daniel knew all this.

So He’s got to be here, before, just at the end of the…Just remember this: whenever the tribulation ends, it’s going to end with several important things: the Antichrist is toast, the dead are raised, and the King from David’s line is ruling, not necessarily for a thousand…we don’t know that yet. We’re gonna find that out in Revelation 20. But He’s ruling over a restored, penitent Israel who’s narrowly survived, a remnant survived, a nation’s being delivered, born in one day…the iniquity of that land’s cleansed in one day…al this is coming. Daniel knew all this. And this is the one who is going to destroy the Antichrist with the breath of His lips and put his body in the burning flame…and Daniel’s already told us that in 7 verse 11. And John’s going tell it…reiterate the same thing in Revelation 19:20.

The point being, is you’re telling me we’re at the end of exile, and you know one’s got to come that Abraham and all of them expected – Isaiah expected – who is able to reverse the curse…and that only through a hit in the heel – and you’re telling me Daniel 9:26 is not about that anointed ruler? It’s not about that anointed king?

Again, give me a break. Just give me a break! You can conceive that; it’s just beyond me. This is not the way the Hebrew prophets were thinking; this is the way the moderns have conditioned moderns to think without thinking. They’re not tracing this back.

So all is to say, we’re coming to the New Testament – Simeon knew He had to die! John the Baptist knew He had to die! It was a rare few…Peter totally stumbled…couldn’t conceive of a dying Messiah. It was rare, but it was available. And we’re talking about that line of men for whom “available” was enough, for whom rare was not elusive, who saw the piecing together of this.

Now…what we’ve got then here is something very interesting. Here’s what was in my dream about. If Daniel’s seeing all this, and if he’s convinced, as I’m convinced that he was convinced, that Daniel 9:26 – the Messiah that’s cut off there, is Je…is the sin-reversing, ya know, Son of David. Okay? If He’s that guy, then you’ve got an interesting point here. Daniel rightly could never have conceived of a two-thousand year interim, between the ascension, which he did see, and could very well, though I’m not putting this in his mouth, but I have a hard time seeing that Daniel did not contemplate the psalms. If you’re going to have one who is going to ascend, and yet that one’s gonna destroy an Antichrist, and put his body in a burning flame at the end of an age, at the time of His rule over a restored Zion, then who ascend’s got to come back. And, why, then, wouldn’t that interval be the time at the right hand of God…in a priestly role, like Melchizedek?

This is the eternal Son of God! David’s Son, David’s Lord, the union of the Divine and the human. This is the man, even the Lord. This is the Man-Child, this is “the virgin will bear a son”, and that Son will be God Almighty.. you know, all that. Those are not just names; those are titles of Deity because this is the Son of God ‘cuz He’s born uniquely. The word monoganeis in Greek, in John’s gospel – uniquely begotten, the One born like no other. The One Who bypasses the Fall and the curse, that doesn’t come under the curse of sin, Who does nothing of His own, but only what He sees and hears. That’s the One!
And I believe they thought of that, knew that…Jesus was the One that had the complete clarity and custodianship. He knew all that – “By His knowledge, He would justify many.” He would guard that secret until the appointed time of revelation. The demons couldn’t know, they couldn’t read His mind. His mind was not accessible to demons, except what they would learn second-hand through His words or the understanding of some other. He was altogether apart. I mean, we know that. But we’re talking now what limitations…I’m just saying it’s reasonable that Daniel could have inferred – reasonably inferred – that this One who ascends up in the clouds to take His place at the…is going to the right hand, from which He will come again, to destroy the Antichrist.

I have no problem seeing Daniel at least conceiving that. But here’s the catch: if Daniel doesn’t see a long gap, and there’s no ground or basis by which he would necessarily see any gap, between the end of the 69th…He’s cut off after threescore, but yet He’s not ruling and reigning until the 70th 7 is completed, three and a half years after an abomination and a destruction of Antichrist. That’s when Daniel’s people would be delivered, Michael stands up, and Daniel is raised from the dust, etc.
So…you see this, we’re looking closely here…this is amazing stuff. You’re dealing with a seven-year interval between the death of the Anointed One and His resurrection. Well, bodies kind of rot in 7 years. You see what I mean? But not if they’re taken up. You could’ve conceivably conceived – conceivably conceived – of a 7-year interval at the right hand of God, during which time, you know, He’s waiting for the Antichrist to reveal the mystery of iniquity. You could have moved from the resurrection…and I like to say, in retrospect, one of my great arguments is, as much as we can show, and we can – I know this is disputed – but I believe, beyond gainsay, we can show that the 70th week, especially without gainsay, the last half of that week of the 70th week, the last 3 ½ years, concerns the mystery of iniquity, it concerns the Antichrist, and that’s what brings us to the end of the times of the Gentiles, and the kingdom of God coming in the days of these kings.

Now, if that’s true then, you could no more have the 70th week, or let’s at least say the last 3 ½ years, follow the 69th week in unbroken succession then you could the advent and career of the Antichrist follow immediately upon the death of Jesus – the death of Messiah. It’s illogical. You can’t. And so, only if, the only way you could do something like that….this is probably what Daniel might have considered…is if, Messiah is, when He’s cut off…He’s got to rule and reign out of a resurrected body, but He goes back to heaven, then He receives His body, as John the Baptist might have considered, this Lamb is going to die and not receive His body at the same time Daniel’s receiving his.

I’m just suggesting. I’m just throwing out absolute…I mean by getting a little bit speculative here, and venturing some inferences that might reasonably be shot down, and found, you know, unjustified, don’t let that lose sight of what is so clear! – that Daniel would have understood this death of this Messiah to be the seed of the woman. And this is the One through whom, and by…because of Whom we will have an end of the times of the Gentiles, we will have and end of the Antichrist…and end to perversity and evil, and the kingdom of God come on earth. It’s gotta come through this man. And who could this be but the seed…you know…let’s call Him the curse-reverser, from David’s line. The curse-reverser! This is something that is just lost.

I remember years ago when I saw the….there’s a New Testament scholar – massively educated – in New Testament theology, knows it inside out, as well as Christians could ever know it, except one problem: he doesn’t believe it. And…he believed actually amazingly, a lot more of it than you’d imagine. It’s Pinchas Lapid, and he’s gone on now. But who is still living, thank God, is our beloved brother, Walter Kaiser. And Walter Kaiser debated Pinchas Lapid on the John Ankerberg Show, something all of you should check out – it’s on YouTube. Amazing exchange!

But I never will forget – at the time I did not pay much attention to it – but Lapid, in his shrewd anticipation of where Christians would want to go with this, had the most studied avoidance of any implications of the snake. I mean, he kept saying, “the snake, the snake”. Only later would I realize why. He knows what Genesis 3:15 means for Christian theology. And as a Jew, he didn’t want that to be enforced, and – what’s the word? – and leveraged. He did not want that leverage strengthening the argument.

But I will just say, Genesis 3:15 is not just a myth or something, it’s everything! It’s literally everything! It’s the seedbed of all promise, of all covenant, of all redemption, of all history. The kingdom of God is in it. Everything is in it. It’s the promise, and the mystery that the story of Israel will unpack, and draw to its glorious conclusion. No wonder Pinchas Lapid wanted to do everything he could to not be, you know, victimized by the implications about the snake. And he kinda made a tongue-in-cheek sport of the whole thing. The idea of the way Christians are so…you know, interested.
Yeah, I’ll give you that. We are very interested. They’re so interested in extracting what he thinks is not there to be extracted. In other words, we need to read all that into it, to have all the basis and implications of our Christian theology. No, that’s what was in the background of Isaiah’s Song of Immanuel. That’s what was in the background of David, and his conception of a Melchizedek priest, who would be the Lord of glory and come through his line. I mean, man, it’s all there! If you don’t have Genesis 3:15, you don’t have the Bible! So I could see why there’s a studied avoidance of the implications of that.

Now, we can go and argue tit-for-tat with the anti-missionaries, and get into that, and you might do some good with an innocent bystander, but you’d never penetrate their armour. But what you can do is make what I call the cumulative argument. You’d go, like we’ve done just now, of course you’d need to prepare, and make it a little simpler, easier to connect things better. We’re totally random here.

But if you go through, and put together the implications of the seed of the woman to the history of redemption, of what the prophets would’ve had to conceive, and understand of the necessary death of the Messiah. “Ought not Christ to have suffered…?” In other words, this was pivotal, very pivotal. Then you could make a case, and then one with a willing and open heart – and sometimes, as you know, Tom, that’s what we mean by “Apocalyptic Evangelism”, those heart aren’t so willing, and those hearts aren’t so open. But they can be made willing and they can be made open, usually through duress and crisis…and the whole theology of weakening and so forth that we have. You see what I mean?

But…but back to Daniel…now this is what I had, what I’d dreamed, as we were talking about, is that Daniel could very well have conceived of a short interim. Son of God goes to heaven…you know…Now we wouldn’t know about Pentecost being poured out. We wouldn’t…but the point of it is the victorious Ascender – call Him the victorious ascending…having accomplished the reversal through death. This is aft…this is post-hit. After the hit in the heel. Yet, 7 years later, Israel’s delivered. Where is He? Okay? Where is His body? Physical body.

I’m saying, as a Jew, what would you know? Would you know of the necessary preservation of a physical body? Maybe, maybe not. But you would have evidence is Scripture that He ascends. And the One who ascends’s got to descend…in the time when He will put His enemies down. But He, but why would He have ascended…at some time, not just from the beginning or back in antiquity, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting, this Bethlehem babe? This guys’s got to ascend, and when He ascends, He comes back.

And what would His coming back mean if He had not put away sin by the offering of Himself? Quote the whole New Testament, Hebrews, you name it. He’s at the right hand of God, having accomplished everlasting…the secret is revealed, this same Jesus is taken up. A few days before, “Will you at this time restore the kingdom?” Oh, on Pentecost, they weren’t asking that anymore! “Oh! We see! You’ve accomplished this! Your body didn’t see corruption. Oh, we see! You were pierced, You have ascended! You’re at the right hand, just like the prophets said. You’re coming again, the restitution of all things. You’re coming the second time without sin…on and on and on we could go.

The whole theology of the New Testament was present – certainly incipiently – at Pentecost. The questions that would have been legitimate before Pentecost were now non-questions. He’s accomplished this, He’s ascended there…When’s He coming back?” Well…somebody in the class could have spoken up and said, “Well, seven years from now, He’s coming back.” So you see where I’m going with this. Seven years from now, He’s coming back, but when He doesn’t come back, ah?! Then, you know, then we’re looking at…if you’re gonna come back in seven years, you need the Antichrist to come into the temple of God three and a half years after Jesus goes up.

Now, could we symbolize some of the this? Well, preterists, amills say, “of course we can, of course we must”. But let’s think about this…yet they, thank God, are quick to remind us, and use for their apologetics, the fact that the 69 7’s from the decree to the cutting off of Messiah, were literal. One of the great evidences is that Christ didn’t come and die 200 years after Daniel, or a thousand years, but He came approximately 4 ½ centuries after Daniel, after the decree, and about 5 centuries from the time of Daniel. So He’s right on time. Even if you give or take for some ambiguities, you’re still dealing with the Messiah who’s right on time, Luke chapter 3, “every man was in expectation”. That’s why they’re out there asking John all these questions. That’s why Jesus could reprimand them with such force. There was an indictment: “You don’t know the time of your visitation.”

I’ve heard argued, by a good chronologist, very conservative, and a very good one, that…and I’ve not read all his arguments, but he said it would have been very unlikely the Jews at the time of Christ would have known with any exactitude when Messiah should suffer or when the exile should end. Remembering, if we’re looking at the 490, there’s not a lot of room between the suffering of Messiah, if that’s the Messiah, and the end of exile – 7 years difference. So we’re talking approximate time. We’re getting ready to be delivered. We’re getting ready to get the Romans kicked out here. We’re getting ready for our Messiah to come and avenge us against this Antichrist who is coming down. And they knew he was coming down.
Some of them were in that Dead Sea desert, as we’ve often said, and in wilderness places of hiding ‘cuz they knew Jerusalem was a doomed city. Not ultimately, but for a moment, Antichrist had to come down and have his way. Women were going to get ravished, houses were going to get rifled (Zechariah 14:1-2). They knew Jerusalem would to be trodden down 42 months. That was not news. Scripturalized in Revelation 11, but that was old hat. That was well known. That was the apocalyptic expectation. I can show it in the writings of the Qumran sectaries. We can show it in the intertestamental literature. We don’t need to show it there ‘cuz it’s in the Bible.

What were these people making of this? What were they interpreting? Well of course they were expecting Rome to come down and be aggressive and mutilate the people and violate the temple! Of course they were. Now if you’re a Sadducee, you’re not expecting that. You think, you know, it might go on a few hundred more years and keep the power structures as they are. But the Pharisees and most that were in the land were in a tremendous alert mode, and that’s what made their missing and rejecting Jesus so extremely reprehensible.

Here’s one in their midst who had done works and spoken words unequalled. Right? Why don’t you know the time of your visitation? Even if you don’t know that Daniel’s 69th week is about to be fulfilled over here at Golgotha, even if you don’t know that, what you should know, it’s time. All your compatriots know it’s time. Why don’t you know it’s time? And if it’s time, who am I? Who am I?

And that was what was so culpable and inexcusable. You see what I mean? All this evidence coming together – “You’re not putting the pieces together”, Jesus said. “You’re not piecing this together because your heart’s disposition is evil. This is a threat to you instead of a welcome rejoicing to you. Something’s wrong with your heart.” And so, it’s not about a lot of knowledge; it’s about your heart, ‘cuz you have even a minimal knowledge, if your heart’s right, you’d be able to make sense of what’s happening.
So that Messiah was to die was very rarely, and only by the most exceptional saints, expected. But that He should come…but that when He does die, and it being available, and now you’re giving Israel a case from the Scriptures, of why He had to die, and the appropriateness of it, and the vindication and verification of the prophets of it, now you’re dealing with, you’re upping the ante on a very inexcusable situation here. And you add evidence to evidence.

You know, first of all, the days roll on, Jerusalem’s being surrounded, and you’re still not believing. You’re still holding on to the fact that He was not the Messiah. He could not have been Messiah. It starts to be coming more and more without excuse. And so now you have the hardening set in, and so on, that we’ve seen through these long generations.

But back to Daniel, before leaving Daniel…so, you would be expecting Messiah to die, and if Daniel, if you want to have Him ascend at that time, which is reasonable – He’s the One coming to destroy the Antichrist – you would have the Antichrist go to the temple three and a half years after the death of Christ. You would have Christ return from heaven. And I would suggest of course with the same body He rose in, but that’s deep, because that’s a deep issue. I’d love to unpack that.

But He’s coming back, obviously with a real human body. Is it a new resurrected body, like Daniel’s going to get, or is it His own body that He went up in? See, did He physically go up? I say He did. Of course, but…and we know from Scripture He did, so what does it ….? So, you get my…I’m just thinking here. So, here comes Messiah, back to destroy a man, but He’s a Messiah that really quite recently died, in the 70-year scenario.

But then when Jesus…when the Antichrist doesn’t go to the temple, it becomes more and more conspicuous there’s a gap here. And why then, wouldn’t that gap, if it’s not going to be 7 years – this is going to glorious, Tom. Listen! – why not 2,000 years? Why not the two days…of Hosea, from the time that He was here…and ascended, as the overcomer, that took the hit and made everlasting blood redemption, ascending, waiting, Now that we know it’s not just a mere 7 years, what about putting that 7 years out to the end of two days? And if you know then, from the light of progressive revelation, that that third day – that’s post-tribulational – turns out to be exactly a thousand years, and you know the 490 years were literal 7’s, so that we have a legitimacy to argue an age that exists between two great incarnations – the incarnation of the seed of the woman, the incarnation of the seed of the serpent – and these two figureheads, these two heads of the two races of men It’s just perfect! The symmetry is amazing!
So you have this death…and so let’s just put there the death…and you have that question mark, like up on my chart, and then you dot-dot-dot down, and that question mark turns into a cross. And then that lights up everything. And then you know at that point of the cross, the One who’s returning has ascended…up in the clouds of heaven, at the right hand, waiting.

Then you’ve got Psalm 110 and Psalm 2, going on for two days! And then He comes again…you know, the tribulation is fulfilled in the days of these 10 kings. The kingdom of God’s on earth, the Lamb of God returns to rule out of Zion for a thousand years…There’s your third day. In a time of great affliction, we confess our single sin – it’s in the singular in the Hebrew – our offense, our trespass, we confess that, for which cause You left, from a place and went back to Your place. And when You went back…from other Scriptures we learned…You hid Your face, and we’re waiting for this unsealing of a mystery, for why You’re hiding Your face from larger Israel, the remnant, the maskilim, the believer, sees the secret.
And they’re waiting ‘til Israel sees it, but until Israel sees it, here’s a people instructing many, which is…Certainly it’s preaching the gospel, at the last 3 ½ years, but brother, it’s been preaching the gospel every since the secret’s opened up! That’s why the book of Revelation says “Seal it not!”, ‘cuz it was unsealed. Only thing that’s unsealed is a few final concluding discoveries that wait for the time of Antichrist, some certain things that he’ll do here and there – highly minute details of Daniel.
But the big picture has been once and for all unsealed, at Pentecost when the Spirit came down. According to 1 Peter 1:11, the Spirit comes down and reveals what the prophets had puzzled over. What had they puzzled over? How’s this all work out? What time and manner of time between a dying Messiah and a Davidic glory, the glory of the Davidic King?

Isn’t that amazing? That’s just an amazing picture! And it just shows the gospel. It shows grace and works, the necessity of blood redemption, the reversal of the curse on the basis of the death of this human, Who is God in the flesh. Mighty God, Everlasting Father…this wonderful Seed Who bypasses…and there’s a mysterious passage in Jeremiah, which says “I will do a great wonder: a woman will compass…surround…a woman will bypass a man. In other words, a woman…it doesn’t tell you much; it just gives a cryptic phrase, that I will do a great wonder. Behold, a woman will compass a man.

And I know, a natural commentator would read that as a judgement scripture, and all those other things, but, it just fits so well with the fact that through virgin birth, you will bypass or circumvent the genetic key that passes down the fallen nature, from our first parents. So Christ being born of a virgin allows Him to be both God and man without conflict, ‘cuz He’s free from the Fall. And as God, and as innocent man, He can become a sacrifice that can destroy the works of the devil, and atone.
It’s just amazing! In fact we believe a lot of things that we don’t fully understand, not because they’re not compatible with…they’re not irrational or contradictory, it’s just they’re too glorious to understand. They’re too incomprehensible. But we know they’re precious and we believe them. I don’t understand all the incredible glory and implications of the atonement, but I believe it. But I can also see what God has given as some real rational evidence for it. But the evidence, even when you conclude of atonement, it’s still only the Spirit that can take you to the glory of it.

So there’s a lot of things that are beyond human comprehension. But what is amazing is the way it works out with such symmetry…like a tapestry of perfectly interwoven threads, and all the strands just come together in this incredible portrait, of this manifold wisdom hidden, God says, to our glory, that the wisdom of the world will stumble at. It talks about atonements, it talks about resurrections, it talks about all this…But when you look at the evidence, especially the cumulative evidence, and you have a willing heart to see it a certain way, it so verifies and confirms itself.

One thing you can say at the end of the day is that nobody but God could have thought this up. There’s no way that this line of prophets could have preserved and perpetuated in such a beautiful symmetry and continuity, one building on the other. ‘Cuz remember, they didn’t get to look back. They didn’t go to the end and read the manual from the end. They’re building the manual as they go. Each one would live and each one would die, and they would pass it on. Man, when you look at that whole thing! I call it “the glory of the story”. I think the greatest apologetic of all time and history is not any one piece of this, but when it’s all pieced together. Aaah! It defies natural explanation… you know…beyond anything conceivable. It just…nobody but God! What a plan! What a purpose! What a perfection!

Yet, many questions, but yet, you’re able to manage those questions and bare the pain of those questions. Sometimes they’re painful questions. Because you see the story! And if you see the story by the Spirit, you see the glory by the Spirit. And no one can take it from you! Once you see it, you’re ruined! You may go through hell and high water, but you’re ruined! You see it! And you know that it’s a kiss of love. It’s a kiss of a friend confiding to a friend. “Come on in here! See my secret. Come and see what I have crafted here, what I’ve conceived. Look at my beautiful heart, my beautiful mind! Look at the way I hide from pride. Look at the way I bring these judgements and yet I leave something yet to be fulfilled, and I keep…just come and behold! Just come and see…in the whole story.

No I’m very sure that Daniel knew no one less than the sin-atoning, curse-reversing seed of the woman, that takes the hit is Daniel 9:26. But that would have left 7 more years. Where’s the seven? And how is that seven not necessarily, by logic, let alone the many, many scriptures that can be clearly put together in a way you can’t separate, by the way. I’ll show you that when we do our little parallelisms.
But…that seven years clearly has to do with the mystery of iniquity. It clearly has to do with the end of the time of the Gentiles, ‘cuz at the end of the 490, Israel’s not under anybody’s heel. The Messiah’s ruling and reigning, and Satan is bound…you could go on. In other words, the idea that the 490 of Daniel 9 is somehow detached from the 3 ½ years of Daniel 12 and of Daniel 7, is nuts! It’s crazy! It’s wrong! It’s perverse! I’ll tell you what it is: you may not be wicked, but you are wickedly being taught and trusting in man. You’re not asking questions as someone in a virginal openness that’s just desperate for truth. You are smug and content, and you’re letting men come in and tell you, you know, how to read this. If you were trembling at the text, you would never come up with that.

If you’re reading 2 Thessalonians 2, and you’re a 15-year old young person in Christ, and you’re finding out about this future man, you would never see a pre-trib rapture there! You’d never see that…it not there. Well, even if it is there, some tutelage, some academic has got to show you why it has to be there. All you’d be reading is “Wait! Before Jesus can come, this guy’s got to show up first.” That’s all you’d see. It takes the sophistication of academics for you to see something else.

So yes, God’s a God that hides, but to make His judgement really pronounced and clear, He hides in plain sight. It’s hidden, and it’s in plain sight. The things that…and God has a lot of riddles in Scripture – there’s a lot of subtleties, and we’ve touched on some of them here, where you really have to labour and pray and receive grace just to put the pieces together, especially rightly, because we’re all putting pieces together, and they come out all over the places. But to put the pieces together in the Divinely-intended, God-glorifying way really takes a weakness in the flesh and a trust, and a grace of trust in the Spirit.

But, having said that, this hasty presumption from what others have told us before…there’s just something there that…there’s a judgment, really…that we’re…not necessarily going to hell or something, but we’re cutting ourselves off, and robbing ourselves of something precious the Lord had for us if we’d only not trusted ourselves, and not our, and not those we think are the experts, but if we’d have gone to the Father, and said, “Teach me. I’m Your son. I’m Your daughter. Teach me. I don’t care about writing books. I don’t care about a name. I don’t care about getting it right and saying “I told you so!” I just want that intimacy with You! I want to be that humble thing that there is before You, before Your face, that You confide Your secrets in, and share Your heart, and You bring me into all the beautiful rooms, and the different departments of Your glory, of Your heart, of Your story. I want that. I want to see You.”
If that’s your heart, He’s gonna give you everything. But if you’ve got another agenda, if you got something else, and you want it for this purpose or that purpose, so you can be a prepper, or anything else, or save your hide, God’s gonna hold back – to an extent…He’s so good, I’m not saying He’s holding everything back. You’re gonna probably still have some blessings, but you are going to rob yourself when your heart is not simple toward the Lord. When it’s not child-like. You’re gonna…God’s just not going to work with that. He can’t. It’s not ‘cuz He doesn’t want to, He just can’t.

So we’ve really gotta be a people who empty ourselves, to get to the real heart of the real riches. ‘Cuz even when you have accurate things, it’s one thing to be right, it’s something else to truly savour, to truly appreciate the value and see it for what it is, in the Spirit by grace.

And so, do you really even know what you know? I don’t…I’m not careful at all about new information, but I’d love to really know what I think I know. I would love for the Lord to show me the power and implications of what I know…or suppose myself to know. It’s not knowing something new, or you know. Knowing something more. It’s knowing what He’s entrusted to us by the Spirit, to the glorious fulness of its implications. That’s what we’re in this race for.

Because I’ll tell you what, if you have that, I can’t believe that it doesn’t change you. You go, “Well, how’ll that fix my marriage?”, or whatever it might be that’s vexing you, or whatever. “How will that help me have a better, sanctified life?” How could it not? How can anytime when you see Jesus, His face, and often His face is most beautiful in the backdrop of this beautiful story. You don’t just see His face in the gospels, you see Him everywhere. You see Him everywhere. When you see His face, the Scripture says you can’t be the same. You can’t change…or, you can’t not be changed.

So the guarantee of how to be changed, in terms of what you do, what you say, how you act, is the issue of how you see. How you see is how you will be. If you see Him as He is, you will be as He is. And to the degree that you see Him – and there is degrees. That’s our great passion and quest: to see Him more fully, to see Him at all, and then to see and savour, not just to know about it, but to see and to savour. I think John Piper wrote a book, I don’t know the book…I’m sure it’d be nice to read it, I just don’t have time. It’s called Seeing and Savouring Jesus Christ. Boy I love that title! Seeing and savouring Jesus Christ – what a title!

And so, if we can see and savour…it’s not new information. But how can you, you’re as careful about needing to overcome things, you’re as careful about fears, you’re as careful about and look to the Lord to help you see. ‘Cuz when you see, you’ll never be the same, and to the degree you see, you will have power…over those things that menace and threaten. And even the things that He doesn’t give it to you to overcome in this life, He will….by seeing you will have the patience. And you will have the faith, and you will have the peace…and the resigned contentment, that you shall surely not always see the face of that enemy. And if you were given a plague or a pain or an affliction or a sorrow, the way you deal with it, the freedom from torment, the freedom from fear will be a whole different matter, because you’ve been with Jesus, you’ve seen His face. You’ve savoured Him.

And so, He is with you, through and in it all, and the only thing you need is a faith that is free of the accuser, who comes in and insinuates doubts, and gives you fears, and…just paints a picture of God that’s completely not true of Him. His whole game is to misrepresent your God, and paint you and ugly God instead of a beautiful God. You know…and paint you a frowning providence instead of One who sees to the end, that the latter end of His saints is always full of pity, and the goodness of the Lord.

And therefore you have what we could call the patience of faith to wait it out, and to bear it out until we come to the perfect day. ‘Cuz you know, if you have the kind of faith, of full assurance that we all desire, you know one thing: that perfect day is coming and you see it so clearly, you can taste it now. You’re eating the grapes of Eschol before you’ve ever even, you know, even in the midst of your afflictions and your darkness.

‘Cuz it says in Isaiah 50, “Who is that servant who stays upon his God?”, who waits upon his God? But he’s in darkness. He says, “Let that servant stay upon his God.” But don’t let him turn around and try to make his own light. O, don’t do that! Don’t go making your light ‘cuz the lights go out. But be jealous for the light of God. That a pseudo, superficial, provisional light will never do.
And that’s what seeing Jesus will really do for you. It will make you where you can’t be satisfied for less. When you’ve seen His face, you can’t settle for less; it ruins you. In a blessed way, it ruins you. You know, you’ve been, you’ve seen. And you’ve been touched – God was in this place, and you knew it not, but now you know it. And…nothing’s the same. Even when conditions are exactly the same, nothing’s the same. Even when circumstances threaten and peril, nothing’s the same. You know that you know that you know, beyond doubt.

And I think there’s nothing so precious, and that I see, with this “middle of the week” glory that’s coming, and say, Christians, and even many Christians, it’s available now, and praise God, it’s always available. There’s always a reviving in the midst of…you know, there’s always a little refreshing or reviving. But that glorious time, when we’re having a reiteration of Pentecost, when the accuser cannot legislate against the believer’s conscience.

You know what that means? That means all of us will have different names. We’ll probably still have struggles. There’ll be things that will threaten and wear us out, and, you know…all of that. But, even when all that’s even intense, and in spades, as they say, all of that is….it’s like water of the duck’s back, when you’re free from doubt, when you’re free from doubt and perfect love has cast all fear. You can bear it. It’s not fun, it has a short time, you’re not gonna bear it forever. But it’s totally different, because you’ve seen Him, He’s with you, you’re with Him. You’re hid with God in Christ.
You’re not insecure. You may want to care about your rewards, you want to be faithful. But, regardless of what your rewards turn out to be, you have an inheritance that’s pure and sure, and fades not and undefiled. You have a sure inheritance. Now I know there’s some contingency in regard to our reward, and we all regard that. That’s a tremendous concern.

But one thing you should never have a concern about is your inheritance. We stress some? over reward, so that you’re faithful, so that you keep your heart free, and you know, you keep on pressing in and buffeting your body, ‘cuz you care about that. But you are not careful…you know you have an inheritance that’s secure. If you don’t have that, it literally lets the enemy just come in and just really have a hold of you. You’ve got to have that full assurance of faith to some degree, and I think we have a little taste of it, and it’s glorious, but we want more. One thing about tasting the Lord is that it always brings a devouring desire for more, and so…

But what will it be when God’s people can’t be accused? Even now, it’s illegitimate. Even now “who is he that condemns, it’s God that justifies”. Even now, it’s an illicit activity. But because of our strength and the strength of our flesh, the enemy’s allowed some access to exploit and opportune himself, by that measure of residual confidence that we still have in the flesh, and we fight against. And that’s why we suffer things, and go through things, ‘cuz what’s going more and more away, through the things we go through, is that residual confidence in the flesh. That’s always there to impede, to block, to hinder, to cheat, and to cheat us of the fulness.

But when that comes down in a people who have been really emptied, and then full of the light of the breaking in of the glory of the implications of this mystery, in the full face of a revealed Antichrist, and all the powerful “yea and amen”, where doubt is absolutely ridiculous – doubt can’t even begin to suggest itself, in terms of the facts. And then, spiritually doubt can’t begin to insinuate itself in terms of the clarity and sweetness and freedom of the gospel.

I mean, sure you’re weeping with them that weep, sure you’re afflicted in their affliction, and all the more, much more. But yet, like Jesus was the man of sorrows, He also had an oil of gladness above His fellows. He was the happiest man on earth. Even while He was the most sorrowful. That’s going to be us! Corporately speaking, never to that perfect measure, but corporately, a fulness, where we’re free of that doubt and all.

And if these end times do anything, it’s to let a church shine in that glorious, child-like simplicity of obedience unto death, without fear, without accusation, without condemnation, without double guessing. They’re able to be free even in their imperfections, even with their infirmities, even with their weaknesses. Those things do not condemn a heart that’s set free, a conscience that’s purged with precious blood.

It’s all about the Spirit quickening a faith that is more than our faith. It’s the faith of the Son of God. And when our confidence in the flesh is more and more broken, more and more taken, and our strength is no longer our weakness, but our weakness is our strength, we’re going to see an open heaven. Different ones are gonna have different tasks. Some will die sooner than others and all those good things. It won’t matter! It won’t matter! There’s a peace and contentment.

You can’t second-guess what God gives or doesn’t give. You just know Him. He’s given you everything. I know there’s a difference in what we receive in Christ…one this and one that. There’s a unique reward. There’s even a unique stone, that only the one receiving it can read. And we all have our personal history. There’s gains, there’s losses, there’s bitterness?, there’s regret. That’s why Paul even himself said “I forget the things which lie behind”, ‘cuz regret can eat your lunch!. Look, a backward look is not what the Lord wants for you. He wants the “yea and amen” of the future, of the forward look. He wants the “Finally, brethren, whatever things are pure and trus?? dwell on these things. Don’t look back!”
Don’t look back! You know, Lot’s wife looked back. Don’t look back! You’ll crystallize and harden. You’ll lose the vision, and when you lose vision, you start to languish. So don’t look back. But, as we’re going on here…uh…where was I?….

As the church corporately is emptied out, through the incredible witness of things that are so public and open, the incredible vindication and manifest fulfillment of the word of God, and prophecy, more prolifically in open fulfillment than ever before since Jesus. That in the face of that, a church like Daniel, that would have gone down into deep self-abasement to seek the Lord, to put away all nonsense and petty things, and all…really, a people shut up unto God, in such a way as only a resurrection transformation can bring them through it.

They can’t bear to go into what they know they’re going into. ‘cuz they see it. The world naively doesn’t see it. They might, yeah, they might be having heart attacks ‘cuz they’re scared. But they don’t see it. We see it, by the Spirit, like Jesus saw His cross. He was a prophet. He didn’t just say, “Well, I gotta go and get this over with.”

It was so forbidding! We’re gonna see how forbidding that tribulation time really is. And there’s nothing of your flesh that’s gonna wanna go there. The only way you can go there is in the victory of grace. And the only way you can face that…’cuz if you’re a prophet, you can’t face it. If you’re facing it, you’re not a prophet.

You can’t face this. It’s beyond you. It’s, it’s it’s…it’s beyond you. You can’t face it. To bear it is presumption. You can’t bear it. Another will have to bear it for you and with you and through you. Another will have to face it with you and through you. It’s a cup you can’t drink, but you will drink, if you follow what I’m saying.

So, because we will be prophetic, and see by the Spirit, it will drive us down, down, down, to greater and greater emptiness, to greater and greater desperation…in the flesh. In the Spirit, we’ll be mounting up with wings. Do you see that there’s a paradox here? What’s he saying? He’s saying this and he’s saying that…It’s exactly the way it is with the Spirit of God. It is a paradox. As I said, Jesus was the happiest man and the most sorrowful man.

They go together! That’s where I was… We will be weeping but we’ll be jubilant. When all of heaven is saying, “Now has come salvation, strength, the kingdom of our God and the power of Christ!”, that’s not just the ones, the souls on the altar. That’s not just the angels. That’s the saints! Heaven and earth – both side of the equation – will be privy to the fact that the thing that was withholding is now gone.
This means terrible prospects for the earth and the inhabitants of the earth, who are unregenerate. But it means glory, glory, glory for those who know the Lord and know their God. And it means a release of strength like they’ve never seen, ‘cuz God will entrust with great things to those who have nothing to gain in this world, who are not working out, they’re not insecure, they’re not needing it…and because they don’t’ need it; they’ll have it aplenty.

And so, they will have that, and they will be able by the seeing of what’s coming, almost, as if to say, vicariously experienced it. So, the only way they dare meet it is in the Spirit, having laid down all confidence in the flesh, and all outs and all options and all alternatives. That’s what I believe we’re looking at. And that’s why we’re coming to this place, and we’re being straitened by outward and inward. It’s both outward and it’s inward. Outwardly, it’s the fulfillment of prophecy.

It’s incredible things that literally…well, you’ve heard me tell the story before, where I always tell of my precious mentor and friend, Mr. Morton, Craig Morton. I would say to him when I was a really young believer, I said, “Mr. Morton, why don’t we see the kind of power…and the kinds of things?”, and he started this beautiful litany of things…went through the gospels…and he always spoke to me like this – “God bless your heart, buddy!” He called me “buddy”…and he called everybody “buddy”.

But he says, “We weren’t there when that man met that woman, with her dead son. We weren’t there…and he went right through, you know, all the things that Jesus did. And he kept saying, over and over, he kept saying, “D’you think that would have had an effect on you? D’you think that would have had an effect on your faith? D’you think…and then, and then, they saw Him taken away, and then they see Him again. D’you think would have had an effect on you?”

That’s why we don’t see that kind of power. That’s a good ole, home-boy, down-home practical answer! But how powerful! How charged with implication! When you’re talking about a people who will see their end before they get there…who will die the death before they get to the place of actual confrontation – because of the spirit of prophecy.

Which is so much more than facts! So much more even than accuracy. It’s a spiritual apprehension. When it says “they that understand”, it doesn’t just mean to understand the right facts. They that understand…that wise, the one that wins souls, the one that, the one that, you know, has something to impart. The one who knows the cross, who knows the resurrection, and the fellowship thereof. They’re the ones who are gonna be, you know…and then, because they know themselves chosen, and not something out of themselves, they’re able to have fruit that remains.

That kind of fruit sticks around; it’s not the come-and-go kind of fruit. The fruit that comes out of election stays elect. It’s a fruit that’s based upon a partial message which mixes flesh and spirit, mixes Man and God. And that mixture is what lies in wait for that seed that has not got deep root, for that seed that comes up quickly, but it goes quickly. But that seed that goes down deep, and that word “deep” is death, into the issue of the cross, into the issue of us bidding adieu to this world. “Let friends and”…what does Luther’s song say – ”Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also. The body they can kill”. I mean, when you’re really free…and Jesus said if you know the truth you’ll be free, there’s a power to abide that just doesn’t come any other way.

And so, that’s why Jesus said it’s a strait gate. Few find it…a lot of pop, a lot of quick pops-ups, lotta fruit on the tree that quickly perishes, a lot of things that come up, shoot up, but they don’t have…Jesus says, “There’s one common denominator with all those that fall: they have no root in themselves; they lack root. And the root speaks of depth D-E-P-T-H, and depth speaks of death D-E-A-T-H. That root that’s in the cross, it’s indestructible. It’s that indestructible seed.

So be sure. Make your calling and election sure. Make sure you’re that seed. ‘Cuz that seed will overcome. It has to. It invariably always does, because it’s born of God. And the rule is, whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world.

So, you aren’t the overcomer. You’re in the Overcomer. To Him is all the glory for the overcomer overcoming. You overcome because of Him, of Him, and He overcomes through you. So, in Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. Nothing you’ve brought or added. See, this is the issue of all of God’s stories.

So where was I…it was about this emptying out of the church…and how that we have to…you know, see by the Spirit, in order to come to that emptying. But we’re going to, but…oh, back to Mr. Morton. “Will this not affect you?” We are going to be brought – and it’s all by grace, and nothing superior in us that wasn’t true, and nothing that we’ll have that the saints of old won’t have. They get a lot of it in us, just like we get a lot of it in them.

Paul says, “you inherit all things”. How’s that? Well, whatever is Paul’s, or Apollo’s, or Cephas’s, you get it too. It’s all…and, my reward may be different than Paul’s, but my rejoicing is not, because I rejoice in his reward. And he rejoices in mine. And we all inherit Christ, and He’s the reward. Abraham said “this is my reward”, God Himself. God is my portion and my reward.

We are inheritors of God! This is amazing! Don’t get hung up on rewards! You know, carefully guard your heart. Vigilantly keep close accounts with God. Be faithful, tremble, obey. But don’t put your marbles with what you get. You’re gettin’ God! And in Him, you’re even gettin’ Paul! And the whole thing, even life and death itself, it’s all yours! Boy, this is bigger than you think! “Eye hasn’t seen or ear heard”.

So…oh, we’re all over the place as usual.

And all that came out of my dream, this morning. You were in it. I woke up. All that started coming together out of Daniel. I thought, “Here’s the task.” I know you already love it, Tom. You’re already in the middle of this. But we want to tie together this beautiful – it’s like, Travis calls it like, bird seed…you want to keep that bird…one seed makes him want the next, and just follow on, and God’s bird seed, and it’s all the way, to the climax of this story.

And I, I believe I received prophetic assurance when I was a very young man, that the tribulation church not only would come to an unparalleled fulness – remember this – never eclipsing or exceeding other many saints, not even comparing. Some, like…you know, there’ve been those “none greater born” – we’re not talking about that kind of comparison. We’re talking corporate here. We’re talking about a wide scale of a church that, you know, is being brought, like Peter, to an age, and another is taking us where would not have gone. We’re talking about a corporate phenomenon.

We’re not saying we surpass, or eclipse, or succeed. I’ve heard people say we trump Pentecost. I don’t believe that. What I do believe is we come back to another fulness, like Pentecost. Not eclipsing, not succeeding, except in terms of massive scale. That’s all I’m saying. Please understand.

And when I speak about maskilim or anything, we’re only talking about people that believe the mystery of the gospel…and that preach the gospel. You don’t have to know all the pieces and all the parts to be the maskilim. Really just have to know Jesus. But…because in a way, you’re already privy to and heir of the secret of the Lord, and in that is the germ of life. So, you know, you could be a more instructed maskilim, like you could be a more instructed scribe out of his treasure. That’s okay. That doesn’t make you some elite group. That doesn’t make you the only one that can preach the gospel or win souls, or….
Don’t get too carried away! We’re not talking about some elite inside track here. What we’re talking about is a maturation of something coming to the full, where all mystery of iniquity is about to come to full. And God’s people, on the parallel of that, is going to becoming to full in a corporate way. And yet, paradoxically, there’s going to be a great falling away going on right at the same time, the worst falling away and yet one of the greatest, most mass revivals, where a multitude which no man can number is being brought out of tribulation, not just tribulation in general, as you’ve often heard me say, but the Tribulation, the Great One – two definite articles in the Greek (Rev. 7:13-14).

That’s coming out of the maskilim, who are instructing many. Well, that’s true of the whole age! But it’s especially true, and in the context of Daniel, was for the last 3 ½ years. So, we’re not into an either/or choice here. When Huss was a martyr, he was a maskilim. C’mon! And all the people who believed in the word of God through Huss, has the same portion, goes to the same glory, whether they died a martyr’s death or not.

Let’s keep this realistic and down to earth, because there’s plenty to take you up to glory without getting elitist about this. And we’re not advocating for some overcomer theology of an inside man-child group, or something else that’s not true of the true Body of Christ, provided it’s the true Body of Christ. The true Body of Christ, corporately speaking now, is being taken to a transitional point, before the Lord returns, in the middle of Daniel’s week, that’s unparalleled since Pentecost. That I’m sure of, and that’s all we’re saying. If that’s a problem, I’m not sure, you know, that you should have that problem.

But having said that, we will have been straitened, by these closing in things, and these incredible fulfillments. We will know the time. We will be at the end of our power. We will be completely poured out, like Daniel. And we will be waiting, like the 110 in the upper room, for power. And not waiting. We’ll be busy. I mean, you could be very busy, out there, engaged, getting martyred, whatever, while you’re waiting. I’m not making…you’re not going to some enclave, some inside upper room to go wait. That’s not what we’re talking about.

But we will know the truth, and we will know that something is about to break in the very heavens, that’s gonna manifest itself on earth in two ways: a man of sin’s gonna be revealed and go to a temple, and as you know my view, he’s gonna be a risen man, and the accuser is coming down at that time, to fill that man, and to bring that final little time of ultimate woe upon the earth. At that same time, the accuser now being removed, the saints of God, both in heaven and earth, are going to be in total jubilee, because a baby’s been born, a beautiful reality of a corporate fulness that’s compared, in my view, to Mary’s baby, but it’s on a wide scale.

Remember, everything about Jesus, that prophetic spirit that was upon Him, all that…It’s not about something He attained by Himself. He attained it by the Spirit, through faith. He also was a man of grace. Everything about His life, from the beginning was grace. What we’re talking about does sound awfully elusive and remote and impossible, probably improbable to many of you. But, we’re talking about a time, at the same time the two witnesses are receiving their anointing, those that have understanding are being strong and doing exploits. It’s all in the middle of that week. And that can be proven from Scripture. If you’re in question of that, give us a chance to make the case.

That’s clear, that in the middle of the week, not just two witnesses in Jerusalem, but a whole body of people, that are the saints, that are compared to stars, are coming alive with great authority and anointing. And they’ll pay a price. There’s incredible persecution, unparalleled again. Not unparalleled in kind, or degree, or even in suffering, but unparalleled in the sense of a mass worldwide scale.
That’s what we’re talking about, so that people are being driven all the way into the dark, or all the way into the light. I call it the murky middle is being removed. And the saints, by what’s deeply in their heart, are being taken to a place to fulfill all that’s in their heart. And the wicked, what’s deeply in their heart, is being pushed to a place where they’re gonna manifest in the flesh all that’s in their heart.

This is the kinda time we’re talkin’ about. And isn’t it fitting, wouldn’t you agree? This is the kinda way a God who made everything would end an age. He would end an age in this kind of open display, where no tongue could rise up, no questions could be asked. That angels and nations have been educated, so that they beat their swords. You know, we’re talkin’ about a major education of our planet.

How else, and in what lesser way, would, reasonably, would history end? Or, not history, because we still have the Millennium, but, this age? This age would only end in a way that would do justice to the character and nature and glory of God. He did not do anything, He said before He would judge, before Israel would have the 70 AD event, He said to them, “Had I not done among you works and spoken words that no one ever did, that now you have no cloak.”

Don’t you find it reasonable that before the Lord will close shop?? on this planet, He will have first given them a witness that could not be reasonably gainsaid or resisted? That to resist it would be like…gnashing on Stephen with your teeth. It would be like, an absolute…you’d be driven, through your hatred of the light, into a frenzied rage, of absolute manifestation of sin in the flesh…with your head-guy incarnating your mystery…as our head, Adam, our second Adam, incarnated our mystery. But we are that mystery body. And we are…so that great division.

In other words, in all I’ve said here, Tom, is logic. It’s symmetry. It adds up. It fits. And that’s the greatest argument for it. It’s not just one little argument, and one point. It’s the whole picture, how it hangs together, fits together, and glorifies God in a way…I talk about…you’ve heard of The Tale of Two Cities? I like to talk about a tale of two stories. Our story…their story has a glory. Now it runs some serious parallel when these last days come, and it turns out to be a false story, in some aspects.

But I’m talkin’ about our replacement friends. They see a crucified redeemer, a blood atonement. They see enough, that I believe that many of them, truly, many of them, God knows, perhaps most are saved. They’re His people. But they don’t see the story, that has the greater glory, which is a tribulation fulness that comes around, a covenant that focuses upon the recovering again of the natural branches. This is a mighty feat, that is God’s own self-appointed mission impossible, to bring that people in, and to fulfill all His promise to them when they are actual enemies, for our sake. They exist in that condition, just like…you know, He’s…Lazarus was left in the tomb, in that condition, for the greater glory of God. God is able, and to demonstrate that, He’s going to bring them in. So, our story is a greater glory. It’s like The Tale of Two Cities. It’s a tale of two stories. We have a story that includes the vindication of the word of God in a millennium, that vindicates everything He said about the things leading up to the Day of the Lord, the Day of the Lord, and what follows from the Day of the Lord.

You don’t just come up to the end of the age, and go out in what I call a Laodicean fizzle, just boom, a backslidden church, suddenly one day the Lord shows up. That’s it. Now we’re gonna move to the new heavens and new earth…or whatever, or some post-millennial pervasiveness of the gospel. That’s mythical stuff! No, God will avenge Himself and openly demonstrate and vindicate Himself against all the gainsaying “Can He bring the kingdom of God on this earth?” Can He bring the kingdom of God to that disobedient and gainsaying people, and not another, not going off and leaving them and just finding those more compliant souls who are the great cooperators with God? No! He’s gonna raise them from the dead!
They are a statement of who He is, and all of us should understand our own grace on the basis of the template and pattern of their grace. That’s how Paul understood his. He was persecuting the truth, on the road to Damascus. One day, the next day, he was an apostle to the Gentiles. Israel is a gainsaying and disobedient people. One day, the day after Jacob’s trouble, and the King is back, they’re a light to the Gentiles.

There you have it. Now you see it, now you don’t! You know, it’s the resurrection! He is the God who raises the dead…with no thanks to you. And no glory to you. That’s what this whole thing’s about. I tell people all the time that the Scripture is about – summed up in one verse – it’s in Zechariah 4: “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit”, says the Lord.

That’s the whole Bible. And God is so jealous for that, He will frustrate your every well-conceived plan, even to serve Him. He will literally let it all come to nothing. He will blast your gourd, wither it. He will continually shut you up, until you begin to know that there’s only one thing that comes out of God, it has to come out of death. It’s the rod, the dead rod that buds…and that secures the glory. It’s all Him. Not somehow where you “let Him be God” or made it happen or whatever.

Now you better be obedient; woe to you if you’re not obedient! Woe to you if you are not faithful to your stewardship. True. But Paul also says, “I obtained mercy to be faithful”. See the paradox. The necessity shut him up to depend on God who raises the dead so that the fulfillment of it was not him! But grace through faith through him! It wasn’t bypassing conveniently the conditions and saying “I got a special pass for you, Paul.” No! You’d better fulfill the conditions. Woe to you if you don’t!

But what does that do? The inflexible necessity shuts you up to a…and drives you down to a dependency that allows God to not share glory with your flesh, but bring about the fulfillment, even of your necessary daily faithfulness.

He’s the author and finisher of the whole deal. He doesn’t let you get in on it at any point. If you did, it would be polluted, it would be vitiated, it would be spoiled. It doesn’t take but a little leaven to ruin everything. God is so jealous that it not be by might, He doesn’t need big cheques, He doesn’t need anything that man thinks He needs. He will go out of His way to prove “that’s not what I need, and therefore, that’s not what I’m going to use. I’m looking for that weakness and that foolishness that’s intimate with My heart, and that waits for that, ‘cuz they’re too ruined for anything else.”
There’s nothing like being ruined by God. There’s nothing like being disappointed by God, because He’s about to appoint what He disappoints. He only says “no” – and it’s a firm, deeply-felt “no” – that He might say “yes”. But He’s gotta say no to your flesh and all your good ideas. And that’s just jealousy, ‘cuz He will not let man get in on even a scintilla of His glory.

Now how that works out – and I know there’s questions, I have ‘em too, I have ‘em too…I wrestle with a lot of questions that just don’t seem to…well, what part’s man? – I don’t know. But I know what I said was true just now. That much I know. And how that works out – human responsibility, sovereignty – I just leave it to the theologians. But I know – one thing I know, that man doesn’t get in on it at any point…at any point. It’s all a gift. You gift your way to glory. You don’t work your way, any part. It’s a gift, all the way from start to finish.

Even the whole plan of God, Romans 11 – “for unto Him, and through Him, and to Him” – He’s talking about a circle there. And there’s no place in there where He is recompensing what man gave. He’s not doing any of this with regard with what man gave, or what input, you know. The whole circle there just excludes man.

And He chose Israel to make the statement of that circle. And by the way, that’s why you’ve got to have a Jewish Millennium. You can’t just have a millennium with Christians. You’ve gotta have a millennium out of a nation that was dead and behold, it lives….out of a nation that wasn’t cooperating. You’ve gotta have a nation that was like Paul on the road to Damascus, pursuing, against the truth, with all of his zeal. And until he ran into Stephen, he had a robust conscience. But after Stephen, he would still even with more of a frenzied fury, but now with a divided…he was a conflicted man. He was kicking against the goads. That is huge, cuz Tom, that’s what the church has to be to Israel. We have to be Stephen.
There’s something in the logic of God that’s not just gonna…God doesn’t just come along and just presto changeo…fulfill My word. He always does it through weakness and through jars of clay. He moves mighty angels out of the way through a little guy on earth called Daniel. You see what I’m saying? He does nothing…but He is the author of that prayer, He’s the author of Daniel’s weakness. He’s the author of it all. But He does it through a chosen means, that He’s very jealous that we’re in the fight with Him, that we go through the travail with Him, that we rejoice with Him, and that we sorrow with Him.

Have you ever thought about you’re being called to sorrow with God? To fellowship in His sufferings? To feel the pain…with God? Only then will you know the glory…and feel the elation, and the glory. It all goes…it’s “are you in it with Him?” He’s certainly in it with you.

Brother, I’ve gone on too long. But I just felt the sense to keep on there while there’s a sense of life. Go ahead.

Tom: [Could you pray for…let’s say we put this on-line – this has been really good, Reggie, really good.]

If it’s been good, then you can believe it’s been given….’cuz I have no clue!

Tom: [Could you pray for the people that have watched this far, that either are getting the Divine “no”, right now…are being sifted, or will be sifted, just kind of in closing?]

Jesus, it was You that said, and seemed so fearful, and so painful that You said it, but You said it, and it was so good, in its end result. You said, “those that keep their life will lose it, but those that lose their lives will find it.”

But Lord, that’s just the problem. With man, this is impossible. We’re not able – we can will, we can resolve, we can make covenants and commitments, dedications. But we’re not able to lose our lives, Lord. We’re asking You to take ‘em, God, take ‘em! Possess us, Lord! Oh we want to be willing, Lord! We can’t ev…that grace…that we could be willing. But we’re not able to lose our lives. We need Your grace, Lord…so that we can lay it all down, ‘cuz there’s only one thing You resist. You resist pride. And pride can be in the most broken of people. Pride is so resilient. It’s so deep. It’s so hidden. It’s not like the puffy arrogance of the world. It’s just nothing but self-sufficient, self-reliance, even out of fear, out of a broken people, who just fearfully can’t let go of their fears. And the reason they can’t is they’re still depending on themselves. We do it at such an unconscious level. We don’t even know how impossible it is to stop depending on ourselves. We don’t know how impossible it is to truly trust You.

And that’s why we need the God who raises the dead. We need Your quickening, Lord. You quickened the dead. You don’t quicken the hopeful and the promising, and the cooperative.

We praise you for everything, Lord, which men, even in their own natural state, wills for good, and for right. It’s certainly a lot better than ISIS or something. But oh God! We don’t see our sin. No one can see it. You are a revelation, and sin is a revelation. It’s not with flesh. It’s not with our power. We can will to see it. We can desire, and thank You, we can pray. Luke 18:1 says if we persevere in prayer, it’s very hopeful.

So we do come Lord, and in our weakness, take away our own guarded schemes and thoughts about how to even help ourselves grow in grace, and all the other things that are so good. But yet, Lord, we’ve gotta have Your power take away our false strength. We’re not able to…we can give it to You now. We do it now even. We know, Lord, You hear our prayer. But we’re not able to cease from our own works; we’re not able to do that. We can focus on it, and we should. You tell us to labour to do that.

But Lord, it’s only as You help us, it’s only as You cause us. You said blessed is the man whom You choose, and cause to approach You. There was only one, really, who ever really approached You. You said, “Who is this that approaches?” and it was Jesus, Lord. But because He did, we can. And through Him, we can, and You receive us for His sake, and through Him.

And You do things that are impossible, Lord. And today, we’re asking You to help us lose our lives, because in holding on to our lives, and to our dreams and our schemes, like the world teaches us to do, Lord, by doing that, Lord, we cheat ourselves, Lord, and You. And we are a poor education to the ages.
But when we are able to come to You and say, “Lord, it’s not in my power” therefore, we apply to You for Your power”, to take us where we could never go, then we are blessed, You are blessed, and the angels are educated, in a blessed way. And they can say, You can say of us, like You did, “Who is My servant, like My servant, Job?” And I know You have that in Your heart to say about a corporate body, Lord. And I know many precious saints have attained it, and there’s others who perhaps haven’t attained that, but You love them too, and they have their reward.

But we pray, God, that we will be jealous for the best that You have, Lord. But to have the best, we must, we must lose it all, that we would set our vain affections on are set up??? Lord, we just need surgery! We need Your own searching to go in. David himself said, “Cleanse me from secret faults, because who can even know their errors?” Lord, sin is so pervasive and so hidden. Only You can spot it and expose it and deliver us. Put Your finger on it.

Lord, we know You cannot brook, and You cannot…You’re gracious…we know there is a common grace, but Lord, we know that Your best cannot cooperate with sin, with even willful blindness of any kind. Lord, but then there’s a blindness that’s not willful, that we also need to be disabused of. There’s a blindness that just comes with what we are.

And we ask, Lord God, that You’d open our eyes. Break our hearts, and give us tasted visions of Your glory, so that there’s no rival, there’s no idolatry, there’s no, there’s no one to compare in heaven but You, and on earth, there’s none beside You. That our eye is single. You said if our eye would be single, our body is full of light.

So we come to You, Lord. Yes, we…better, we must…lose our lives. And woe to us if we don’t. But Lord, we can’t. But Lord, we must. But Lord, we shall through Your grace. And sometimes, it’s by increments, and sometimes…

But Lord, take away the lie that we can somehow regulate and calculate and accomplish things through will and good intentions, which is really not Your Spirit. And You must blast it, You must resist it. And woe to those who have success in that, Lord. We don’t want success. Sometimes, what people hail as the very blessing of God is a…is a judgment, though it’s very successful outwardly, commends itself outwardly. Yet, Lord, it’s not Your Spirit, and will not receive reward in that day. It will be wood and hay and stubble.

So we’re not able to have Your jealousy, Lord, but You could give it to us, and we ask for that today, that we would be jealous. And in our sharing today, we mentioned many times about being ruined, so that we can’t settle for less. Let us truly say our eyes have seen the glory. And that, Lord, we are shut up. And Lord, we want You to be glorified in all the earth. We want Your name, not our name. We want Your way, not our way.

Help us, oh God. Cause us to break the power of this strong flesh that’s more proud than we can imagine or know. It’s more self-dependent, even in its fears. And even in its efforts, Lord. We could never get humble enough. We could never bow down enough. Lord, it’s wise and good and right to fast and pray and seek You, and continue to knock. But we could never bow down enough. Only You can bow us down, Lord. Take us to that place, which we cannot attain. You must come to us. You must come to us. Draw us with cords. Let us lose our lives, so that You can begin to entrust us the true riches.
Let us wait with patience.

Lord, I personally am full of so many promising ideas and You keep blasting and frustrating all of them. And I just can’t seem to do a thing, Lord. And I just want to be…not grieved that my gourd is withered. Lord, I want to rejoice. I want to rejoice that You resist me. I want to rejoice that You say, “no”. I want to rejoice, Lord God, and wait for You, and not to think that I have to have all kinds of time, and all kinds of freedom from diversions, or distractions, Lord.

That again is power. All those things are power. Lord, You give those things. Yes, we need those things, and You know what we have need of. But oh God, our trust is with You, Lord. Not with our opportunities. Lord, Father, we have failed, and wasted, we could regret, we could go into a bog of regret. But we pray, God we will not look back. We pray, Lord God, we will see the “yea and amen”. Your promises are precious, Lord, and by these, we partake of Your Divine nature.

Lord, let us be a people who live by faith, every word that proceeds from Your mouth, that live by the promises, and not by the predicaments of our lives. Let those things not rule us. Let us not be bullied by principalities and powers, and high imaginations and persuasions that don’t come from heaven.
Lord, let us be so lost to ourselves in this world, in this evil age, and so separated unto You, that You can afford, without giving any power to the flesh, You can afford to give us precious things of Christ, and allow us to glorify You and bring a faithful prophetic truth and a standard and a plumbline in our generation.

And Lord, we’re just gonna say again, “Come quickly!” In the hemorrhaging, in the gloating of the demonic powers, in the high looks. We know You’re a God of common grace, and there’s sweet and wonderful things happening all over the planet right now. But Lord God, You’re touched by all the tragedy, all the abuse, all the molestation…and all the exploitation, and all those exalted high things, that are getting away, literally, with murder. But they won’t get away.

Come, Lord Jesus, come and put an end, that You’re name would be magnified in all the earth, and all their high speeches would come down…in one day! Oh God, we saw just a little taste of how completely astonished and upset everyone was, and how You do things, Lord, that just humble pride.

And Lord, help us not hate it when You humble pride, but help us always kiss the hand that wounds us, Lord, ‘cuz “faithful are the wounds of a friend”. When You let the air out of our balloon, Lord, and You close in, and You let us see what it would be like for one moment without You, just so You…You say for that moment, “no”, then You say “yes”, and in a way, You hide Your glorious “yes” behind a “no” that’s very firm, and it looks final. On the surface, Lord, it looks so final; You say, “no”. But Your heart is to say, “yes”.

So Lord, I just ask that we would lose our lives…and find our lives, by the grace that comes to us. You study, You know each one of us is so different. But You know the way that You take with each one of us, Lord, that we would not miss Your best, that we would not settle for less. ‘Cuz I know, Lord, if there’s any tears in heaven, they’re soon wiped away if there is. Lord, I know the greatest regret would be to have settled for less than it might have been if we weren’t so busy and taken with our self-carnal dependency, even in terms of spiritual achievements or success or anything else.

Lord, spiritual things, just like natural things, cannot be approached with the will and power of man. They can only be approached through the cross, both in the natural and the spiritual. And to have success that’s not out of that cross is no success at all. It’s a hidden judgment, and sometimes that judgment is not just something bad that happens to us, but it’s what we impoverish ourselves of; it’s the supply that we cut off from ourselves, but not there You???

So keep us, Lord, in that place in Isaiah 66, that trembles at Your word…and does not lift ourselves up, Lord God. But make us as a weaned child and let us tremble at Your word, and be that broken thing, Lord, that You can pour into.

Lord, thank You for what You’re showing us in these days. But Lord, we have to ask You, fulfill Your word. Take the mountains of opposition that are between us and Your return, things that have to be fulfilled in prophecy, even still, that are so externally improbable. Yet Lord, look at what You’ve done. You brought Israel back after centuries. You are God. You are God, and You will be God.

Thank You, God. In Jesus’ name, amen.

It may be attractive to calculate symbolic numbers, 7’s, 40’s and 70’s, Sabbath years and feast days and so on. There may or may not be validity to some inside track detectable to those with the inside knowledge, but none of this is what Jesus specified. He tells us plainly what to look for and mark. And He tells in a way that can be plain to all the sheep, provided they obey His simple directive to read and understand Daniel’s prophecy, with particular attention to one very specific event. This requires no special historical or astronomical knowledge better known to NASA and brainy meticulous chronologers and historians than to the average believer.

I just know God would never put His sheep at the mercy of such endless, mind boggling ‘data’, available only as it comes down from the experts who often are not agreed among themselves. Jesus gave us just enough, no more, no less to be prepared and to escape the ultimate deception when it would count the most. And though it seems to elude the most advanced biblical scholars; it’s marvelously simple!

You begin by simply following His command to search out Daniel in special reference to the abomination that must stand in Jerusalem (Mt 24:15-16, as found in Dan 8:11; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11). From there, it is sufficiently plain what precedes and what follows. Beyond this, a prophet may warn of local earthquake or famine etc., Such specific knowledge, if true, can help the church, just as false prophecy tends to scandalize and shame the church, as it emboldens unbelief and blasphemy. Otherwise, the threat of imminent calamity is always a possibility for every generation, as Jesus showed that such things would belong to the general ebb and flow of the history of a world that lies in wickedness.

When these general characteristics of the age appear, and even when they begin to abound in both frequency and intensity, still, Jesus warns against a premature and misleading excitement, as these are NOT “the sign” that the end has arrived. “See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”

This is exactly what Paul is addressing in 2Thes 2:1-8, but carefully note: Paul does not set light by the foretold sign of Jesus’ imminent return. On the contrary, his whole emphasis it to make it unmistakable. His interest is not only to quell a distracting false alarm, but to underscore something he was careful to teach on every occasion, even when his time in Thessolonica would be extraordinarily brief. Paul is no less interested that the critical sign NOT be lost to a lie. This is precisely because he knew that when the time would come, this knowledge will be a critical bulwark of defense from the deception that Jesus said would attend that time. In its proper time, it will be vital and this is why Paul rallies with such great urgency to put down a lie that threatened much more than a premature excitement that enticed some in the church to leave their jobs and become idle.

No, the “end” begins with the abomination, nothing less. Show us something leading directly to the abomination and you will have our attention. Until then, we are to be sober and always watchful as a life style, knowing that desolations are determined (not to be confused with the ultimate desolation of Jerusalem) as characteristic of an age under judgment.

I always think of when the book of the Law was found in the temple. Josiah needed no course in fine prophetic details of eschatology to see the writing on the wall. The only reason God may yet bear the pride of this nation a little longer and of many nations is precisely because it the cup of Babylon’s iniquity is being permitted to fill all the way to the full. Otherwise, if we were to be humbled before the time, it seems to me something deeply humbling would have already come, such as our own Civil War or something of that scale.

Even more fearful than temporal humbling is the greater judgment that permits the cup of wrath to fill to the point of no return. Though the end of the age is full of much judgment, there is an entity called, ‘mystery Babylon’ that is being permitted to become very successful, prosperous, secure, and increasingly oppressive of all godliness. This ‘apparent’ non-judgement is the greatest and most fearful judgment of all.

Our tower is being permitted to reach unto heaven for a purpose. This is the time we must work while it is day, but the greatest impediment to the work is the disarming intoxications and sedation of the spirit of Babylon, the spirit of the age, as most of professing Christendom is ‘at ease in Zion’. As with the northern kingdom at the Amos’s prophecy, a sleepy worldly church only imagines that it wants the day of the Lord to hasten (Amos 5:18).

In one sense, the judge has always been ‘at the door’. Since John wrote his epistle, it has been “the last time.” It is always time to flee from the wrath to come, and to hasten to call out the penitent remnant from the city of destruction. The days of every great empire are numbered, as every individual’s life span. In that sense, the day of the Lord is always ‘at hand’. That can be seen by the use the prophets’ make of that language, applying the same terms of imminence to different times and different threats facing Israel on the contemporary horizon, against which backdrop they would describe the more ultimate and final day of the Lord.

While I fully believe we are at the threshold of the last call before closing, with most (certainly not all), the signs amazingly in place, the urgency of fleeing Babylon and being separate from the world remains no less true in every generation. But now, as never before, most of the long awaited signs are in place. We are nearing the end of the two days of Hos 6:2, and the signs that remain are showing strong evidence of falling, potentially very quickly into place. It is for this reason only that I believe Babylon is being permitted to wax more and more in its pride and false security, perhaps even a more abounding prosperity, till the cup of iniquity has reached to heaven.

Apart from the simple plum line that Jesus gives, all the vain speculations will ultimately have an hardening influence that is calculated to disarm and disaffect the credulous from the real thing when the time does come. That’s just one price we pay for the false alarms of prophetic speculation that make men rich while it emboldens the world. His judgments are perfect in their wisdom to show what is in the heart. That’s my take.

After listening to a number of preachers speak about the trumpets of Revelation already being fulfilled since World War 1, and that we are quickly approaching the sixth which speaks of a great war in the Middle East; Is this possible? Because I always thought of the trumpets happening within the last 3 and half years, and we have not yet seen ‘hail fire, mixed with blood, burning up a third of the trees”, or the star “Wormwood poisoning a third of the planet’s freshwater sources” and if we have, when? Am I missing something?

Concerning the timing of the trumpets, you are very correct. They most certainly begin at the middle of the week, at the time of the sealing of the servants of God (Rev 7:1-3 ff.) and continue to the ‘last’ or 7th trumpet, which is the Lord’s return and the beginning of His millennial reign (Mt 24:31; 1Cor 15:52; Rev 10:7; 11:15 ff.).

A careful comparison of Rev 8:12-13; 9:12-13; Rev 11:11-15 will show that the last three trumpets are the last three woes. This further contradicts the really bizarre notion that the first five trumpets are already past and the 6th is imminent. As you rightly ask, how could the 6th trumpet be the next to sound unless we are already well advanced into the great tribulation? That such a proposal could be made, or seriously entertained, underscores a really dangerous ignorance or misplacement of the events that signal the beginning of the tribulation, that let us know when it is approaching and when we’re in it.

Firstly, we know that the great tribulation cannot start until the necessary preliminary conditions are in place. Breaking the deadly peace arrangement, the Antichrist descends suddenly upon an unsuspecting Israel that is resting in a false sense of security (Isa 28:15, 18; Dan 8:25; 9:27; 11:23-24; 1Thes 5:3). Sweeping away all opposition (Dan 11:31; Rev 13:4), he forcibly enters the rebuilt temple of God which must again stand in Jerusalem (‘the holy place’ in ‘Judea’; Mt 24:15-16; 2Thes 2:4; Rev 11:1-2). He then stops the regular (morning and evening) sacrifice that has been only recently reinstated (Isa 63:18; Dan 8:13-14) and places the abomination that triggers the great tribulation (Dan 11:31; 12:1-2, 11; Mt 24:15-16, 21; 2Thes 2:4). It’s that simple. It was meant to be for our protection.

It is fitting that God would make it plain so that we would not be deceived by false reports and premature excitements to the contrary. There is only one antidote to end times deception: “But take ye heed! Behold; I have foretold you all things” (Mt 24:25: Mk 13:23). And, “Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall NOT come, except there come a falling away FIRST, and that man of sin be revealed …” (2Thes 2:3-4).

Jesus does not give all the details that are needful for His people’s knowledge of the end. Rather, He sends His disciples to Daniel’s prophecy to identify and understand the key event that signals the beginning of the tribulation (Mt 24:15-16, 21). If we would only follow His clear command, we would save ourselves a lot of abuse and needless diversion from the false alarms of prophetic speculation. By His interjection, ‘let the reader understand’ (to paraphrase, “pay attention to Daniel!”), Jesus is directing us to search Daniel’s prophecy for this event, and to read with “understanding” (a word that appears with significant frequency all throughout the book).

We find that the abomination that brings the final desolation of Jerusalem is mentioned four times (Dan 8:11; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11). Jesus knew that when we would carefully observe what leads up to this event and mark what follows from it, we would not be so easily mistaken or deceived concerning the time of His return, nor without understanding of the nature and meaning of the tribulation that must immediately precede (Mt 24:29). This should be the beginning point of any study of prophecy, since it is exactly where Jesus tells His disciples to begin, a divine directive that has been far too little emphasized.

Contrary to many prophecy scenarios, the abomination of desolation cannot be separated in time from the stopping of the daily sacrifice. Both are equally 1290 days before the end (Dan 12:11). I agree this would seem obvious, but many false views of prophecy live and thrive by separating the inseparable. For example, some insist that Christ stopped the sacrifice by His death, but move the abomination up another 40 years to 70 A.D or some other more distant place in church history.  Then, contrary to the clearest of evidence from the most simple comparison of scripture with scripture, they boldly proceed to disconnect these inseparable events from Paul’s description of the man of sin who enters the temple of God just shortly before his destruction by Jesus’ return (2Thes 2:1-9). These things cannot be split up and placed at different points in history!

Many of the false systems of prophecy can only be sustained by either separating the sacrifice from the abomination by either decades or centuries, or by spiritualizing one or both. Invariably, the temple must also be spiritualized, so that the temple that Paul mentions in 2Thes 2:4 (see also John’s reference in Rev 11:1-2) is usually considered to be representative of world Christendom. It is disconnected entirely from the temple mentioned by Jesus in His Olivet prophecy (Mt 24:15). And yet, both Jesus and Paul are clearly citing the words of Daniel to describe the same man who enters and defiles the temple of God to begin the unequaled tribulation (Dan 11:31, 36-37; 12:1, 11 with Mt 24:15-16, 21; 2Thes 2:3-4, 8).

What temple and where? How could Paul, without further qualification, have expected the Thessalonians to imagine any other ‘temple of God’ than the one that was standing in Jerusalem as a wonder of the ancient world when Paul was writing his epistle? What powerful presuppositions must be at play for interpreters to insist that Paul’s reference to the temple of God in 2Thess 2:4 is an entirely different kind of temple, separate in time, meaning, and location from the temple that Jesus refers to in Mt 24:15-16. This is especially awkward when both passages are so manifestly speaking of the same event that signals the great apostasy and and final tribulation.

If we will carefully compare Paul’s wording in 2Thes 2:4 with the identical language of Daniel’s prophecy in Dan 11:36-37, it cannot be missed that the same person is in view. It should be obvious that this is the same man who places the abomination of desolation only five verses earlier in Dan 11:31, the event which Jesus references using precisely the same language in Mt 24:15.

Notice too that Rev 12:7-14 puts the ‘short time’ of Satan’s rage as following immediately upon Michael’s heavenly victory over Satan. This is exactly what we see in Dan 12:1-2. Michael stands up and then begins the unequaled trouble (Jacob’s trouble; Jer 30:7) that ends with the deliverance of Daniel’s people and the resurrection. In such a context, it would be a violence against plain language to separate these events, whether by decades or centuries. No, the abomination is placed at the same time the sacrifice is removed in the middle of Daniel’s 70th week, precisely 1290 days before “the end”, i.e., the end that accomplishes the final salvation of Israel in connection with the resurrection (Dan 9:27; 12:1-2, 11-13). That end! The text could hardly be plainer, and if a plain reading of plain language is not a sufficient ground for interpretation, then the sky’s the limit!

With the temple spiritualized to stand for the church, the man of sin becomes a symbol for either a long line of Roman emperors or more commonly, the succession of popes, spanning, not a short period of approximately 3 1/2 years, but many centuries, as each of the days of Daniel’s half week (1260, 1290, 1335; Dn 9:27; 12:11-12; Rev 11:3, 12:6) is understood to represent a year. This is the presupposition of the so-called ‘historicist’ interpretation that has been the dominant view since the Reformation until modern times and remains prevalent today among both Reformed and Seventh Day Adventists.

In this view, the sacrifice of Dan 12:11 is either put in the past or spiritualized. It cannot conceivably refer to a literal sacrifice that is being offered in a literal Jewish temple in a Jewish Jerusalem that will be stopped by the Antichrist just 3 1/2 literal years before the end. Why? Because this would require a prophetically significant reconstitution of the Jewish nation, such as we see before our eyes.

(Note: The so-called ‘year day theory’ has been a principal cause of most of the failed dates for Christ’s return, most notably Jehovah’s Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists).

The end result of all is to transfer prophecy out of its original Jewish context into a more symbolic and spiritualized fulfillment in the church. The rule seems to be (I’ve heard it stated) that the original and literal Jewish context must be abandoned if any progress is to be made in prophetic interpretation.

It is the separating of what God has joined that brings all the error and confusion. Keep these few events together and in their manifest relationship and alignment, and you’ll be much better prepared to detect any deviations from the basic criterion (plum line) that Jesus gives in His Olivet prophecy as safeguard against deception.

Failure to hold these inextricable parts together has led to many disappointed expectations that have notoriously discredited prophecy all throughout the history of the church. The net result is to create what I like to call, the ‘wolf! wolf! syndrome’ that has led many to conclude that nothing definite or certain can or ‘should’ be known concerning the time of the Lord’s return, whether now or at some point in the future. In this way, many have been diverted from the specific instruction that Jesus presents as His provision against a deception that will particularly concern the time and manner of His return (see Mt 24:23-29; Mk 13:21-23; 2Thes 2:3). The urgency of the language that both Jesus and Paul uses to warn and correct of any deviation from this basic criteria may prove much more decisive when the time comes than we can presently conceive.

Recently I was sent something from a youtube clip of the Jim Bakker show where someone was on declaring that “we missed the 5th trumpet.” But as I mentioned, a careful comparison of Rev 8:12-13; 9:12-13 with Rev 11:11-14, in their contexts, should put beyond question that the 5th trumpet is the first woe. The 6th trumpet which is also the second woe coincides with the great earthquake that attends the ascension of the two witnesses. Manifestly, this is close to the end of the tribulation. Then, with the passing of the second woe in the aftermath of the ascension of the witnesses (Rev 11:14), announcement is made that the third woe is coming quickly. According to Rev 8:13 with Rev 9:12, the third woe is manifestly the 7th trumpet that finishes the mystery of God with the Lord’s return to judge the wicked and reward the righteous (Rev 10:7; 11:15-18).

The tribulation is sufficiently defined that no believer who regards the plain meaning of scripture can miss it. I believe a clear case can be made from scripture that all 7 of the trumpets are within the last 3 1/2 years, but what is clear beyond any reasonable dispute is the impossibility that we missed five trumpets so that only one more remains between us and Christ’s return at the 7th trump. That such a ludicrous proposal could get to first base is sad commentary on how vulnerable we are to deceptions of a much more serious nature.

As for the ever present threat of upheavals and disasters and judgment upon nations, Jesus says we are not to be troubled (in the sense of distracted or moved off course; compare 2Thes 2:2). Regardless of what we see, until we have seen the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet; the end is not yet! This is very important, as apocalyptic enthusiasm will grow ever more distracting and misleading with premature announcements of an imminent end. By such false alarms, the really significant events that do indeed mark the time with clarity and final certainty are lightly regarded or dismissed. Thus it is that despite the most prolific and visible display of prophecy in human history, that day is able to come upon the world completely unawares. That’s amazing; but it also removes all excuse.

It is a sobering paradox that despite the great clarity of at least the most important sign events that Jesus gives, the angelic messenger can say to Daniel, “the wicked shall do wickedly and none of the wicked shall understand” (Dan 12:10). That is very sobering. How else could such manifest fulfillment overtake the world as a thief?

Finally, I think the great question is what does all of this confusion mean? Why are things as they are? I believe the answer lies in what the Lord did at His first coming. Concealed within the prophetic writings was a mystery that was not to be revealed until the appointed time (Mk 5:43; 8:30; 9:9; 1Cor 2:7-8; Ro 16:25-26; 1Pet 1:10-12). All things were indeed foretold, albeit in such a way that for some, it would be a trap and snare, a stone of stumbling and rock of offense (Isa 8:14-18; Lk 2:34-35), designed by God to elude carnal confidence, while for babes, God Himself would undertake to reveal His hidden wisdom, ordained to their glory (Mt 11:25-26; Jn 15:15; 1Cor 2:7; Rev 10:7 with Amos 3:7).

All things were being tested by the mystery that confronted the nation in the person of Jesus. It will be so again at the end. God intends that the world be confronted with a mystery that is designed to test and search the depths of every heart. By their nature, the prophetic scriptures are designed to elude the pride of human self reliance, not because they are difficult or clouded in mystery; quite the contrary, they are plain and simple to the plain and simple. That is to say, they are clear and transparent to plain persons of simple trust who have been emptied of their own self sufficiency to know anything of themselves. Such find their only hope in a trembling dependency on the Holy Spirit, and in the reliability God’s plain use of plain words for plain, everyday people. Everything will try to move us from the simplicity and clarity of what Jesus gave us to protect us from the subtleties of well meaning religious zeal, “But take heed; see, I have told you all things beforehand. Therefore, if they say to you … (any deviation) … believe it not!”

“Let no man deceive you … the end is not yet!”

Certainly any war in the region has always the potential of acting as a catalyst bringing about the changes that prophecy requires.  We certainly do expect a great transforming event sufficient to change and dramatically realign the political landscape of Israel at some soon point, and this may well (even probably) take the form of war.  We may infer from scripture that events will move Israel into a posture of non-compromise concerning its absolute sovereignty over the city of Jerusalem.  We can think of nothing more likely to produce such an inflexible stance than a war that threatens the nation’s very survival, demonstrating again the futility of peace initiatives that imperil national defense.

Jewish intransigence over the Jerusalem question, the ultimate threat to world peace, is the most probable source for the final “flood” of anti-Semitism that will sweep over the world.  Also, scripture implies the necessity of orthodox control over the holy places of Jerusalem (Isa. 63:18; 64:11; Dan. 8:13; 9:26; 11:31; 12:11; Matt 24:15 et al), and the imposition of strict Sabbath observance impeding flight out of the region of “Judea” (compare Matt. 24:20; compare also Isa. 28:14-22 with Dan. 9:27; Dan 11:21-45; 12:1-13; Zech 12:2).  This we believe and expect.  However, in no way is it possible that the current threat of war with Iraq can be the final world tribulation precipitated by the anti-Christ.  There is just too much in prophecy that describes, in definite detail, a certain sequence of precursory events and requisite antecedent conditions that do not match the current scene; not least a deceptive peace arrangement (“covenant with death and hell” Isa 28:15) that relaxes Israel’s guard (Ezek. 38:8; 1 Thess. 5:1-3), and opens the way for the restoration of the appurtenances of the “holy covenant” (temple, sacrifice etc. (Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11; 2 Thes 2:4 et al).

This all goes to show how easy it is to “jump the gun” when the basic outline of Daniel’s prophecy is neglected or misinterpreted.  According to Dan 11:23-30, there is a whole detailed sequence of regional conflicts, stratagems, and events that occur after the “league” (false peace), but before the desecrating sacrilege that initiates the period of Israel’s final desolations (the so-called “footsteps of Messiah” of rabbinic eschatology). This foregoing sequence of events is, regrettably, by an impossible exegesis, attributed to the actions of Antiochus Epiphanes in the 2nd century B.C.  He was indeed a type that remarkably followed the pattern of the final oppressor, but as Keil and a host of other of the best exegetes will point out, there is a great deal of unaccounted non-fulfillment that fails to match in adequate detail the actions of the Syrian tyrant, pointing to a greater and more precise fulfillment in the future.  After all, Antiochus was not destroyed by the Son of Man as will be true of the “little horn” of Daniel’s prophecy (Dan 7:11-27; 8:9-14, 23-25 and Dan 11:21-45), and of “the man of sin” of Paul’s epistolary warning (compare esp. 2 Thes 2:3-8 with Dan. 11:35-37).  Neither did the persecuting career of Antiochus IV end in Israel’s final deliverance and the resurrection of the righteous (Dan. 11:45; 12:1)

We conclude with the verdict of scripture that anything short of this highly descript and definite order of events comes under the Lord’s restraining caution, “for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet,” and of Paul’s urgent warning, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except …”

Jump to a later statement of the same title

This message followed immediately the short message on Zion and the Cross by Mark Klafter found HERE.

On Sat. night you made a remark in passing about the proto-evangel in Genesis. I think you said that the “unpacking” of Gen 3:15 is found in Daniel. I wonder if you could expand on that for me. I’ve been teaching on the everlasting gospel starting there in Genesis and I’d like to hear your perspective as it relates to Daniel.

Hardly enough could be said about Gen 3:15. It is the seed bed, not only of the gospel but of the whole comprehensive mystery of God that is finished with the 7th trumpet (Rev 10:7). The two seeds establish the two lines of men by which the plan of redemption can be traced from beginning to end. It is more than Messiah and Satan. It anticipates the line of the ungodly making up the city of man, mystery Babylon, and the line of the children of the Spirit who are headed up in the Messiah who form corporately the city of God, the heavenly Zion.

These two lines are really two natures, the nature of Satan in fallen man and the nature of God in His saints. These two natures that run through the whole of humanity come to their fullness and perfection in a personal incarnation in the two princes of Dan 9:25-26. Both the seed of the serpent and the woman’s seed are ordained to come to ultimate perfection and final manifestation in a personal incarnation. Paul will speak of the “mystery of godliness” (1Tim 3:16) and its antithesis, the “mystery of iniquity” (2Thes 2:7). The mystery of iniquity that is presently working, comes to final revelation in the ‘man of sin’ after the one who is restraining is removed. As Jesus would be the ultimate Seed of the woman who perfects in His humanity the mystery of godliness, so also the seed of the serpent must come to a similar fullness of Satan in the flesh. Thus, the two princes of Dan 9:25-26 fulfill two distinct mysteries that bound the present age between the two comings of Christ.

As an aside, the “revelation” of the Man of Sin implies something much more than merely identifying who he is by his actions, as popularly taught. Scripture shows many recognizable events that lead up to his abominable act in the temple (Isa 28:15, 18; Dan 8:25; 9:27; 11:21-31). These will identify him well before the time of his ‘revelation’ as the Man of Sin. The revelation of the Man of Sin concerns, not mere identification, but the transitional moment that Satan fully enters the mortally wounded beast as he ascends from the abyss to become the “beast that was, and is not, and yet is” (Rev 11:7; 17:8).

The mystery that I believe the Spirit intends to convey is that the same beast that descends into the abyss upon the event of the mortal wound, ascends with its healing to become the “beast that was, and is not, and yet is.” This means that the 8th beast that “must continue a short space” is none other than the risen 7th. Upon his rising, he becomes the composite beast (Rev 13:2; 17:11), now endowed with “all power” and signs and lying wonders (2Thes 2:9). As uniquely begotten Son was given the Spirit without the measure (Jn 3:34) so that in Him should dwell all the fullness of God (Col 1:19; 2:9), just so, by a miraculous transition, the Antichrist will fill up the full measure and image of his father, the Devil.

By observing the clear parallel between the time that Michael stands up to begin the unequaled tribulation in Dan 12:1, and Michael’s heavenly victory that casts Satan down to earth to begin his ‘short time’ (Rev 12:7, 10, 12), we can see that Satan’s eviction happens at the same time the mortally wounded beast is ascending from the abyss to begin the last 42 months of the desolation of Jerusalem and persecution against the saints (Rev 11:2; 13:5). Manifestly, Satan’s ‘short time’ and the ‘short space’ that the revived beast ‘must continue’ (Rev 12:12; 17:10) is the brief period of the unequaled tribulation.

Michael’s eviction of Satan marks the great transition point in heaven that very closely precedes the abomination of desolation on earth that starts the great tribulation (Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:1, 11 with Mt 24:15, 21; Rev 12:7-14). If the casting out of Satan and the revival of the mortally wounded beast intersect to bring forth the beast that was, and is not, and yet is, this suggests that the temple is entered by a man who has only very recently risen from the dead. The revelation of the long working mystery of iniquity means that the man of sin now incorporates in himself all the fullness of what the former beasts were only in part, just as Jesus filled up in His holy person all the fullness of God. This is how the ‘prince that shall come’ fulfills the mystery of iniquity as the incarnation of the serpent’s seed, which is necessary before Jesus can return (2Thes 2:3, 7-8). Thus the revelation of the Man of Sin is not merely the point at which he can be identified, but much more particularly the moment that Satan becomes fully incarnated in the revived “beast that was, and is not, and yet is” (Rev 17:8).

Significantly, the time of Satan’s ultimate exposure in the Antichrist, with the casting down of the accuser of the brethren, is also the time that the two witnesses receive power, and not only the two witnesses, but we notice from a number of passages that this is also the same time that a great anointing is shown to rest on maskilim (the wise who have understanding; Dan 11:32-33; 12:3, 10 with Rev 11:3, 12:10-11). It is amazing to contemplate that the most manifest and abundant fulfillment of prophecy since Messiah’s first advent will accompany the greatest empowerment of the church since Pentecost. This will result in the evangelization of a multitude too great to number that will come out of ‘the tribulation, the great one’ (Dan 11:32-33; 12:3 with Rev 7:9, 14).

So the great transition that takes place in heaven affects more than the revelation of the Man of Sin. The casting down of the accuser will also accomplish an unparalleled release of the Spirit and power upon the godly remnant. The first half of the week will have been crucially instrumental in crowding the godly remnant to the kind of intercession that will receive the help of Michael in displacing the one who hinders. Besides ‘the accuser of the brethren’ (Job 2:4; Zech 3:1-2; Rev 12:10), Satan is also called the one who hinders, withstands, or resists (Dan 10:13; Zech 3:1; Ro 1:13 with 1Thes 2:18; 2Thes 2:7).

As you know, it is my view that Satan is the restrainer whose position in heaven is holding back the revelation of the mystery of iniquity, which is holding back the day of the Lord (2Thes 2:2-3, 7-8). So long as his place in heaven can be retained, the day of the Lord cannot come, the kingdom cannot come (Rev 12:10; 11:15), and the mystery of God cannot be finished (Rev 10:7). This is why Satan is in no hurry to bring forth the Antichrist, as popularly supposed.

This is where the church has it turned just around. We tend to think it is Satan’s great ambition to bring forth the Antichrist, but this is the last thing he wants, because his exposure in the Man of Sin will mean that his time is short. (This is why Satan must go after the woman with an urgent and desperate fury when he sees that his time is short, because he knows that the preservation of a remnant from among the Jewish race is indispensable to the public vindication of God’s irrevocable covenant with them.)

Satan’s eviction by Michael in the middle of the week is very much to be compared to the resistance of the demon prince of Persia who “withstood” the angelic messenger until he was taken out of the way by this same Michael (Dan 10:13). Doubtless, this is the background of Paul’s thought on the much disputed question of the identity of the restrainer. It is also strongly confirmed by John’s depiction of Michael’s forceful removal of Satan as a prior necessity before the kingdom of God can fully come on earth with the finishing of the mystery of God (Rev 10:7; 11:15; 12:10).

Notice how the same event that signals great woe to the earth dwellers (Rev 12:12) marks a mighty break-through of heavenly glory and victory for the saints (Rev 12:10-11). “”Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ.” Why? Because the accuser of our brethren is cast down …” (Rev 12:10). Daniel then becomes a type of the ‘maskilim’ (wise / understanding) of the last days (Dan 11:32-33; 12:3, 10) when a pre-determined sequence of foretold events will move the godly remnant to a place of ultimate urgency and intercessory travail that will be answered in Michael’s pre-tribulational victory over Satan. Thus setting in motion the tribulation that MUST precede the day of the Lord and the full coming in of the kingdom of God on earth (Dan 12:1, 11; 2Thes 2:3, 7-8; Rev 12:10; 11:15).

John’s sea beast who rises from the abyss with the healing of the mortal wound (Rev 11:7; 13:1-3; 17:8) who persecutes the saints for 42 months (Rev 13:5), is surely the man of sin who reveals the mystery of iniquity as the incarnation of the serpent’s seed. It is important to see that this trans-historical (Rev 17:10), multi-headed, multi-horned beast is ultimately embodied in a man, I believe a resurrected man, the man of sin.

Those who want to make Jesus the one who confirms the covenant in Dan 9:27 argue that is not the ‘prince that shall come’ but Messiah, the anointed prince who is cut off (Dan 9:26), who stops the sacrifice by His death in the middle of the week. There are a number of problems with this view, not least is the observation that in every other mention throughout the book of Daniel, it is always the evil prince that stops the regular sacrifice (Dan 8:11; 11:31; 12:11). Moreover, the desolation of Jerusalem described in Dan 11:31; 12:11 comes approximately 3 1/2 years before the end in Dan 12:11, and this is consistent with the sacrifice being stopped in the middle of the week. It is particularly inconsistent to make the ‘consummation’ / ‘end’ described in Dan 9:27 to be merely the end of the city in 70 A.D., whereas in every other mention, ‘the end’ has in view the post-tribulational deliverance of Daniel’s people and the resurrection of the dead (Dan 12:1-2, 13; Mt 24:21, 29-31; Rev 12:7-14).

In summary, if the final week of years has in view the Antichrist as “the prince that shall come,” then we must infer a gap between Messiah’s atoning death at the end of the 69th week and His return after the Antichrist has fulfilled the mystery of iniquity in the last half of the 70th week. The first 69 weeks brings us to the beginning of the gospel and the 70th is preserved to bring in His return. If the 70th week concerns the revelation of the mystery of iniquity and the finishing of the transgression, then it is impossible that 70th week could have followed the 69th week in unbroken succession as argued by those who want to make Jesus the one who confirms the covenant and stops the sacrifice. The much maligned “gap” is in perfect keeping with the greater mystery of the gospel, which reveals a hidden age between these two polar mysteries, the mystery of godliness and the mystery of iniquity that bound the present age.

Curiously, Daniel never uses the term, ‘day of the Lord’, but the unequaled tribulation and the “finishing of the transgression” (Dan 8:24; 9:24) is clearly the last stage in Israel’s long history of covenant discipline that ends in the day of the Lord. The age long discipline of the covenant foretold by Moses in Lev 26, Deut 28; 31-32, continues till the new heart is given at a time of “great tribulation” (Deut 4:29-30; 29:4; 30:1-6). The discipline of the covenant does not end with a probationary return to the Land. We see this in the fact that the return from Babylon still looks ahead to a future unequaled tribulation climaxing in the day of the Lord (Jer 30:7; Dan 12:1; Zech 14:1; Mal 4:1). Israel is not assured of secure preservation in the Land until the “bringing in of the “everlasting righteousness” of the “everlasting covenant”(Jer 34:40; Dan 9:24). This righteousness is ‘revealed’ in the gospel (Ro 1:17).

Daniel knew the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others who spoke of this righteousness that must come before the nation could be established in abiding security in their Land. Jeremiah had shown that in that day when Israel would dwell safely, the righteous Branch, Israel’s King, would be called, “the LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jer 23:5-6). I believe it is incorrect to suppose that this everlasting righteousness is only brought in at the end of the 70th week. Like “reconciliation for iniquity” (Dan 9:24), the everlasting righteousness came in for the church at the end of the 69th week. It will yet come in for ‘all Israel’ at the end of the tribulation, which, of course, is also the end of the 70th week.

This conforms perfectly to what was foretold by Isaiah in Isa 8:7-14. The teaching would be “bound up and sealed among my disciples” until God’s face is no longer hidden from the house of Jacob. Note that the face of God remains hidden from Jacob until the Spirit is poured out at the great day of the Lord (Eze 39:22, 29; Zech 12:10; Joel 2:28-29; 3:1-2, 16-17, 21). While the greater part of Israel would stumble, the mystery of the kingdom and the gospel (the sealed vision) would be revealed to the believing disciples, who await its revelation to the surviving remnant of Israel at the post-tribulational day of the Lord. It is that unveiling that births the nation ‘at once’ and ‘in one day’ at the end of a final time of national travail and great affliction (Deut 4:29-30; Isa 13:6-8; 26:17-18; 66:8; Mic 5:3; Hos 5:15; Jer 30:6-7; with Eze 39:22; Zech 3:9; 12:10; Mt 23:39; 24:30; Acts 3:21; Ro 11:26; Rev 1:7). The redemption of Israel is inextricably bound to the hope of resurrection (Ro 11:15), as all roads lead to that great transition called, day of the Lord, which the NT treats as a synonym for Christ’s return.

We see in Rev 12 that the seed of the woman is both corporate and personal. It is therefore a great error to limit the woman’s travail to Mary, or the man child only to Jesus. The figure of the woman and the man child is far more sweeping, envisioning, not only the personal Seed, but the corporate seed of the woman which includes not only the spiritual seed, but also the physical seed through whom alone the promise of the everlasting covenant can be fulfilled in an all holy Jewish nation as the theocratic head of the nations.

The end of the covenant that will realize the return of the natural branches (Ro 11:27) envisions the glorious convergence of the earthly and heavenly Zion at Christ’s return. The woman is an inclusive figure that includes the elect nation, I would say, even in its unbelief as the abiding object of an irrevocable election, and also the believing ‘remnant of her seed who keep the commandments of Jesus’. Thus, the woman represents both Israel and the church, as the righteous remnant within the still elect nation.

Now notice a great mystery: Isa 66:7-8 shows the astonishing anomaly of the birth of a man child BEFORE the woman travails. Then, only AFTER Zion’s travail, the nation is born in one day.

“Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.”

This is the riddle that Rev 12 will solve. If we understand the woman to represent both the heavenly and the earthly Zion, we see that it is the heavenly Zion that brings forth the man child BEFORE the great tribulation. This stands in marked contrast to the earthly Zion whom Satan tries to exterminate before the covenant can be fulfilled in their return (Isa 59:21; Ro 11:27). Hence, there is one travail of the woman before the tribulation, and there is another travail of the woman that ‘IS’ the tribulation. It is only “when Zion travails’ that a nation is born in one day (Isa 66:8). This is in marked contrast to the ‘pre-tribulational’ travail that births the man chid BEFORE the pain of Israel comes in what is clearly the great tribulation (Isa 66:7 with Rev 12:1, 5-6). Obviously, the birth of the nation in one day refers to the post-tribulational day of the Lord, not May 14, 1948, as popularly taught.

“I was at ease and He shattered me, and He has grasped me by the neck and shaken me to pieces; He has also set me up as His target.” (Job 16:12)

“After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which ad been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations, and the were living securely (at ease), all of them.” (Ezekiel 38:8)

“The shattering of the power of the holy people” (Dan 12:7)

We might call it ‘pattern eschatology.’ It is both a soteriology and eschatology of the cross, not only for the uniquely begotten Son, but for all sons, and no less the elect national son, Israel, who must embody and demonstrate the wisdom of this pattern in the sight of all nations. You can well see in Job’s experience the pattern of Isaiah’s Suffering Servant. It is a statement of abject poverty and religious blindness if we cannot see the same pattern in the church, since it is that pattern that makes the church the church, if it is the church.

I think we lose the point if we do not see the parallel in both the experience of the corporate servant on his way to the transformation that makes him righteous (with the true and abiding righteousness of the Spirit), but also in the experience of a born again, but still naturally self reliant Jacob, or even with one so righteous as Job, who must pass through imponderable suffering on his way towards an even greater perfection and deeper ‘conversion’ that comes by the seeing of God, face to face precisely where His face is only ever seen, at the end of power (Deut 32:36; Dan 12:7).

Who can welcome such deep dealings of God unless divine love and the bright hope of glory has overcome the power of fear? Only by the sure hope of that coming glory, and the love that casts out fear, could Paul so willingly invite the high cost of what it means to be ‘conformed to His death.’ His apprehension of glory was of such a kind as to make many afflictions to seem as momentary and light, not even worthy to be compared. It was ‘for the joy set before Him’ that our Lord endured His cross and this is what we must have if we are to appropriately endure ours in these last days as God has determined to bring His church into fullness.

From the interpretation you obviously take of Ezekiel chapter 38, you are pointing out that it is significantly at the height of Israel’s religious and political success that the great shattering of Jacob’s trouble comes suddenly (“when they shall say peace and safety …”). If so, it underscores God’s commitment to further educate the onlooking universe of the high cost of humanistic presumption. But it also underscores again the great principle of the Spirit that Christ is formed in Israel in the same way He has taken root in all His saints, by the shattering of their power.

The shattering of power is most ultimately the crucifixion of confidence in the flesh. It comes only through crisis. It may be the crisis that the Spirit quickens when the Word comes with power, casting down, even as it raises. Or it may come through the crisis of inward and outward circumstances, but in every instance, Christ is revealed at the end of strength, where the veil of the flesh has been shattered. That is why Christ is the end (goal) of the law, because the law intends the bringing down of every false hope in man. When the law is quickened, it kills carnal confidence as it shuts one up to true resurrection through a personal and existential revelation of Christ to the heart.

The same pattern obtains in His saints as well as in His elect nation whom He has determined to bring to salvation. As much as God is resolutely determined to educate principalities and powers through the church, He must purge His people of the pride of presumption, even in its most minimal measure, as in the case of Paul. By the same rule, Israel must be emptied of its power, just as the corporate body of Christ, as also a kind of corporate of Job, will not be exempt of the cost of its own high calling, since the greater the calling, the greater the jealousy, the greater the cost.

In conclusion, God is at war with presumption, and He is most particularly jealous of His saints. This is dealt with by His gracious determination to bring down every high thing, since to leave anything of human self sufficiency is to be deprived of the greater apprehension and appropriation of eternal glory, and nothing of this temporal world is worth that loss! So, Lord Jesus, do as you must do; that we not fail or come short of any part of your highest glory and purpose for our short time in this world.

“Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward” (2 Jn 8).

On Sat. night you made a remark in passing about the Proto-Evangelium [“the first gospel”] in Genesis. I think you said that the “unpacking” of Gen.3:15 is found in Daniel. I wonder if you could expand on that for me. I’ve been teaching on the everlasting gospel starting there in Genesis and I’d like to hear your perspective as it relates to Daniel.

Hardly enough could be said about Gen 3:15. It is the seed bed, not only of the gospel but of the whole comprehensive mystery of God that is finished with the 7th trumpet (Rev 10:7). The two seeds establish the two lines of men by which the plan of redemption can be traced from beginning to end. It is more than Messiah and Satan. It anticipates the line of the ungodly making up the city of man, mystery Babylon, and the line of the children of the Spirit who are headed up in the Messiah who form corporately the city of God, the heavenly Zion.

These two lines are really two natures, the nature of Satan in fallen man and the nature of God in His saints. These two natures that run through the whole of humanity come to their fullness and perfection in a personal incarnation in the two princes of Dan 9:25-26. Paul will speak of the “mystery of godliness” (1Tim 3:16) and its antithesis, the “mystery of iniquity” (2Thes 2:7). The mystery of iniquity that is presently working, comes to final revelation in the ‘man of sin’ after the one who is restraining is removed.

As Jesus would be the ultimate Seed of the woman who perfects in His humanity the mystery of godliness, so also the seed of the serpent must come to a similar fullness of Satan in the flesh. As the uniquely begotten Son was given the Spirit without the measure (Jn 3:34) so that in Him should dwell all the fullness of God (Col 1:19; 2:9), just so, by a miraculous transition, the Antichrist will likewise fill up the full measure and image of his father, the Devil. Thus, the two princes of Dan 9:25-26 fulfill two distinct mysteries that bound the age between the 69th and 70th weeks of Daniel.

We must understand that the “revelation” of the Man of Sin implies something much more than merely identifying him by his actions, as usually understood. Scripture reveals a number of recognizable events that lead up to his abominable act in the temple that will identify him well before his ‘revelation’ as the Man of Sin (Isa 28:15, 18; Dan 8:25; 9:27; 11:21-31). The ‘revelation’ of the Man of Sin signifies that transitional moment that Satan fully enters the mortally wounded beast as he ascends from the abyss to become the “beast that was, and is not, and yet is” (Rev 11:7; 17:8).

The mystery that I believe the Spirit intends to convey is that the same beast that descends into the abyss upon the event of the mortal wound, ascends to become ‘the beast that was, and is not, and yet is’ (Rev 11:7; 13:14; 17:8, 11). Upon his ascent from the abyss, he becomes the composite beast who now embodies the fullness of that spirit / nature of Satan that was only partially seen in the former beast kingdoms (Rev 13:2; 17:11). This mystery is that all of this is now concentrated in a man (Rev 13:18),  as now endowed with “all power and signs and lying wonder” (2Thes 2:9).

In what follows, I want to show that the one who begins as a ‘despicable’ person (in God’s eyes), and who comes in disarmingly to obtain the kingdom, not by war or by ordinary means of succession, but by deceit and blandishment (Dan 8:25; 11:21, 23), is the same leader (scripture calls him a king) who will rise from the dead. This supreme demonic miracle (ordained by God as necessary before Christ can return) will move the whole of the unsaved world to marvel as they “behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is” (Rev 13:3; 17:8).

The miraculous healing of the head wound is further described as an ascent up out of the abyss (Rev 11:7; 17:8).  Obviously, the mortal wound is the descent; its healing is the ascent. I believe this is the strong delusion that God has determined to send on those who have already manifested a determined and resolute hatred for the truth (2Thes 2:11). It will mean irreversible reprobation (Rev 14:9-11), the point of no return.

A comparison of Dan 12:1 with Rev 12:7-14 makes clear that the unequaled tribulation starts when Michael stands to cast Satan down to earth. Plainly, the eviction of Satan intersects in time with the ascent of the Antichrist from the abyss with the healing of the mortal wound (Rev 13:3, 12; 17:10). At the same time, or nearly the same time, the abomination is being placed in Jerusalem to begin the tribulation (Dan 9:27; 12:11; Mt 24:15-16, 21; 2Thes 2:4; Rev 11:2).

Whether this demonic resurrection takes place very shortly before his invasion of Israel, or shortly upon his forcible arrival in the city is an open question. It has been reasonably suggested that this miracle of resurrection is how he is able to secure the unified cooperation of the ten kings in the ‘secretly planned’ assault on Jerusalem that finds Israel off guard, dwelling securely under the false presumption of lasting peace (Isa 28:15, 18; Eze 38:8-9; Dan 8:25; 11:23, 27-31 with 1Thes 5:3).

Notice the relation between Satan’s expulsion and the coming of the kingdom in Rev 12:10. Why is it that the kingdom does not come in all its fullness until Satan is cast down? I believe it is for the same reason that the day of the Lord cannot come until the one who is restraining is taken out of the way. The removal of Satan as the one who hinders (1Thes 2:18) permits the mystery of iniquity to be revealed in the man of sin as the personal embodiment of the beast that returns from the mortal wound. This alone explains why all of heaven rejoices with such great jubilation over an event that will mean such woe and suffering for the earth (Rev 12:10-12).

When scripture is carefully compared, it becomes apparent that this will be realized through a miracle of death and resurrection that will cause the entire unsaved world to “wonder when they behold the beast who was, and is not, and yet is” (Rev 13:3: 17:8). Nothing else is so well calculated to so powerfully deceive the multitudes. It is a divine judgment for those who have not received the love of the truth, particularly in the face of such abundant evidence from prophecy that we know will be declared under great anointing at that time (2Thes 2:11; Rev 13:3-4, 14 with Mt 24:14; Rev 12:10; Dan 11:33; 11:2; Isa 28:11-12).

Many interpret the healing of the wound as the resurrection of one of the kingdoms of antiquity, such as Rome or the Ottoman Empire. It is hard to see how something as gradual and naturally explained as the revival of a former world kingdom could so well account for the kind of deception that such an astonishing miracle will send upon the world of the unsaved. Furthermore, the revival of a former kingdom would hardly require the casting down of Satan, whereas Satan is very committed to resist a forced entrance into the body of Antichrist, since the revelation of the mystery of iniquity will mean that is time is short (2Thes 2:3, 7-8; Rev 12:12).

This explains why the mortal wound in one of the beast’s heads so nearly appropriates the language of Gen 3:15. As much as Satan was fatally wounded at the cross, the death of the Antichrist (by the mortal wound) is significantly timed in relation to Michael’s enforcement in heaven of the victory of calvary. For this cause, the death of the Antichrist means the end of  Satan’s tenure over the nations, because his resurrection will mean the soon end of the composite beast (Dan 7:11; 2Thes 2:8) through which Satan has ruled over the nations as the god of this age.

All the evidence points in the direction that the desecration of the temple at Jerusalem is in close connection with the casting down of Satan, which results in the resurrection of the Antichrist. It must not be missed that Satan’s casting down is in close, I would say immediate, connection to the healing of the mortal wound, which the best reading of the evidence shows to be the actual resurrection of the man of sin.

Whereas it is true that the beast who speaks great words, persecutes the saints, and kills the two witness at the end of the 3 1/2 years (Rev 11:2-3; 13:5), is represented as a man (Dan 7:8; 11:21, 36-37; 2Thes 2:4; Rev 13:18), he is much more. He belongs to a multi-headed, multi-horned composite beast (Rev 13:2; 17:10-11) that reaches back across all the great, God opposing kingdoms of the biblical record. Clearly, Rome is the 6th head of this beast, as contemporary to the apostle John who received the Revelation in the first century A.D. (Rev 17:9-10). From John’s place in time, only one more head remains, and it will continue only a ‘short space’ (Rev 17:10). How then does the Spirit speak of an 8th?

The riddle is solved when we understand that the 8th head that goes into perdition is the risen 7th who “was, and is not, and yet is” (Rev 17:8, 10). In this way, the 7th and last head continues a ‘short space’ as the 8th, since the 8th is manifestly the return of the 7th. After continuing the ‘short space’ (the 42 months), the 8th beast, as the risen 7th, goes into perdition. Notice that the beast is cast into the lake of fire one thousand years before ‘the rest of the dead’ (Rev 20:5) or even Satan (Rev 20:10-15).

As the eighth, he incorporates in a single individual all the power of evil that has been behind the great world kingdoms of the gentiles that have usurped and resisted the promised rule of God over all the earth.  As Satan manifest in the flesh, the risen man of sin becomes the ultimate embodiment of that composite, trans-historical beast, that has been the instrument through which Satan has exercised his rule over the nations until the times of the gentiles be fulfilled.

As much as Michael’s casting down of Satan marks the great transition point in heaven that has its counterpart in the abomination of desolation on earth to begin the tribulation (Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:1, 11 with Mt 24:15, 21; Rev 12:7-14). And as much as we believe that Satan’s expulsion intersects with the healing of the deadly wound, we have before us compelling evidence that the temple of God at Jerusalem is entered by a man who has only very recently risen from the dead.

The revelation of the long working mystery of iniquity means that the man of sin now incorporates in himself all the fullness of what the former beasts were only in part, just as Jesus filled up in His holy person all the fullness of God. This is how the ‘prince that shall come’ fulfills the mystery of iniquity as the incarnation of the serpent’s seed, which is necessary before Jesus can return (2Thes 2:3, 7-8). Thus the revelation of the Man of Sin is not merely the point at which he can be identified, but much more particularly the moment that Satan becomes fully incarnated in the revived “beast that was, and is not, and yet is” (Rev 17:8).

Significantly, the time of Satan’s ultimate exposure in the Antichrist, with the casting down of the accuser of the brethren, is also the time that the two witnesses receive power, and not only the two witnesses, but we notice from a number of passages that this is also the same time that a great anointing is shown to rest on the maskilim (the wise who have understanding; Dan 11:32-33; 12:3, 10 with Rev 11:3, 12:10-11). It is amazing to contemplate that the most manifest and abundant fulfillment of prophecy since Messiah’s first advent will accompany the greatest empowerment of the church since Pentecost. This will result in the evangelization of a multitude too great to number that will come out of ‘the tribulation, the great one’ (Dan 11:32-33; 12:3 with Rev 7:9, 14).

So the great transition that takes place in heaven affects much more than the revelation of the Man of Sin. The casting down of the accuser will also accomplish an unparalleled release of the Spirit and power upon the godly remnant. The first half of the week will have been crucially instrumental in crowding the godly remnant to the kind of intercession that will receive the intervention of Michael who will accomplish the final removal of Satan from his position in heaven as the one who hinders the revelation of the mystery of iniquity and by so much, the coming of the kingdom (compare 2Thes 2:7 with Rev 10:7; 11:15; 12:10). Notably, Michael’s removal of Satan as an obstruction to the full coming in of the kingdom (Rev 12:10) is very much to be compared to the removal of the opposing prince of Persia who stood to resist the mighty revelation that was fighting to break through in answer to Daniel’s prayer (Dan 10:10,12-14).

[Note: Besides ‘the accuser of the brethren’ (Job 2:4; Zech 3:1-2; Rev 12:10), Satan is also called the one who hinders, withstands, or resists (Dan 10:13; Zech 3:1; Ro 1:13 with 1Thes 2:18; 2Thes 2:7).]

As you know, it is my view that Satan is the restrainer whose position in heaven is holding back the revelation of the mystery of iniquity, which is holding back the day of the Lord (2Thes 2:2-3, 7-8). So long as his place in heaven can be retained, the day of the Lord cannot come, the kingdom cannot come (Rev 12:10; 11:15), and the mystery of God cannot be finished (Rev 10:7). This is why Satan is in no hurry to bring forth the Antichrist, as popularly supposed.

This is where we have it turned just around. We naturally tend to think it is Satan’s great ambition to bring forth the Antichrist. But this is the last thing he wants, since his full exposure in the Man of Sin will mean that from that time, his time is short (Rev 12:12). His power over the nations is at an end. (This is why he goes after the woman with an urgent and desperate fury. He knows that the preservation of a remnant from among the Jewish race is indispensable to the public vindication of God’s irrevocable covenant with them; Isa 59:21; Ro 11:27.)

Satan’s eviction by Michael in the middle of the week is very much to be compared to the resistance of the demon prince of Persia who “withstood” the angelic messenger until he was taken out of the way by Michael (Dan 10:13). Doubtless, this is the background of Paul’s thought on the much disputed question of the identity of the restrainer. It is also strongly confirmed by John’s depiction of Michael’s forceful removal of Satan as a prior necessity before the kingdom of God can fully come on earth with the finishing of the mystery of God (Rev 10:7; 11:15; 12:10).

Notice how the same event that signals great woe to the earth dwellers (Rev 12:12) marks a mighty break-through of heavenly glory and victory for the saints (Rev 12:10-11). “”Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ.” Why? Because the accuser of our brethren is cast down …” (Rev 12:10). Daniel then becomes a type of the ‘maskilim’ (wise / understanding) of the last days (Dan 11:32-33; 12:3, 10) when a pre-determined sequence of foretold events will move the godly remnant to a place of ultimate urgency and intercessory travail that will be answered in Michael’s intervention.

It is clearly NOT the false prophet, but John’s sea beast who rises from the abyss with the healing of the mortal wound (Rev 11:7; 13:1-3; 17:8). It is he who reveals the mystery of iniquity as the incarnation of the serpent’s seed. It is important to see that this trans-historical (Rev 17:10), multi-headed, multi-horned beast is ultimately embodied in a man, I believe a resurrected man, the man of sin. So which prince takes away the daily sacrifice? That is the question that will decide whether we can say that the ‘coming prince’ of Dan 9:26 is the man of sin, and not some other, such as Antiochus IV, as suggested by Jewish scholars, or Titus, as suggested by most Christian scholars of replacement orientation? The answer to this question will decide whether the 70th week of Daniel followed the 69th in unbroken succession, or whether we must see a gap between the death of Christ and the advent and career of Antichrist.

Those who want to make Jesus the one who confirms the covenant in Dan 9:27 argue that is not the ‘prince that shall come’ but Messiah, the anointed prince who is cut off (Dan 9:26), who stops the sacrifice by His death in the middle of the week. There are a number of problems with this view, not least is the observation that in every other mention throughout the book of Daniel, it is always the evil prince that stops the regular sacrifice (Dan 8:11; 11:31; 12:11). Moreover, the desolation of Jerusalem described in Dan 11:31; 12:11 comes approximately 3 1/2 years before the end in Dan 12:11, and this is consistent with the sacrifice being stopped in the middle of the week. It is particularly inconsistent to make the ‘consummation’ / ‘end’ described in Dan 9:27 to be merely the end of the city in 70 A.D., whereas in every other mention, ‘the end’ has in view the post-tribulational deliverance of Daniel’s people and the resurrection of the dead (Dan 12:1-2, 13; Mt 24:21, 29-31; Rev 12:7-14).

In summary, if the final week of years has in view the Antichrist as “the prince that shall come”, then we must infer a gap between Messiah’s atoning death at the end of the 69th week and His return to destroy the Antichrist at the end of the 70th week. As the first 69 weeks brings us to the revelation of the gospel with the cutting off of the anointed prince (Dan 9:26), the 70th is preserved to bring in His return after the mystery of iniquity has been revealed in the ‘prince that shall come’. Therefore, it is no more possible for the 69th week to have followed the 70th week in unbroken succession than for the advent and career of Antichrist to have followed immediately upon the death of Jesus. To infer a gap between these two antithetical mysteries of incarnation is in perfect keeping with ‘mystery of the gospel’, which reveals a heretofore hidden age between the two advents of Christ. This is the mystery that so profoundly tested Israel, over which all but the elect would stumble.

Curiously, Daniel never uses the term, ‘day of the Lord’, but the unequaled tribulation and the “finishing of the transgression” (Dan 8:24; 9:24) is clearly the last stage in Israel’s long history of covenant discipline that ends in the day of the Lord. The age long discipline of the covenant foretold by Moses in Lev 26, Deut 28; 31-32, continues till the new heart is given at a time of “great tribulation” (Deut 4:29-30; 29:4; 30:1-6). The discipline of the covenant does not end with a probationary return to the Land. We see this in the fact that the return from Babylon still looks ahead to a future unequaled tribulation climaxing in the day of the Lord (Jer 30:7; Dan 12:1; Zech 14:1; Mal 4:1). Israel is not assured of secure preservation in the Land until the “bringing in of the “everlasting righteousness” of the “everlasting covenant” (Jer 34:40; Dan 9:24). This righteousness is ‘revealed’ in the gospel (Ro 1:17).

Daniel knew the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others who spoke of this righteousness that must come before the nation could be established in abiding security in their Land. Jeremiah had shown that in that day when Israel would dwell safely, the righteous Branch, Israel’s King, would be called, “the LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jer 23:5-6). I believe it is incorrect to suppose that this everlasting righteousness is only brought in at the end of the 70th week. Like “reconciliation for iniquity” (Dan 9:24), the everlasting righteousness came in for the church at the end of the 69th week. It will yet come in for ‘all Israel’ at the end of the tribulation, which, of course, is also the end of the 70th week.

This conforms perfectly to what was foretold by Isaiah in Isa 8:14-17. The teaching would be “bound up and sealed among my disciples” until God’s face is no longer hidden from the house of Jacob. Note that the face of God remains hidden from Jacob until the Spirit is poured out at the great day of the Lord (Eze 39:22, 29; Zech 12:10; Joel 2:28-29; 3:1-2, 16-17, 21). While the greater part of Israel would stumble, the mystery of the kingdom and the gospel (the sealed vision) would be revealed to the believing disciples, who await its revelation to the surviving remnant of Israel at the post-tribulational day of the Lord. It is that unveiling that births the nation ‘at once’ and ‘in one day’ at the end of a final time of national travail and great affliction (Deut 4:29-30; Isa 13:6-8; 26:17-18; 66:8; Mic 5:3; Hos 5:15; Jer 30:6-7; with Eze 39:22; Zech 3:9; 12:10; Mt 23:39; 24:30; Acts 3:21; Ro 11:26; Rev 1:7). The redemption of Israel is inextricably bound to the hope of resurrection (Ro 11:15), as all roads lead to that great transition called, day of the Lord, which the NT treats as a synonym for Christ’s return.

We see in Rev 12 that the seed of the woman is both corporate and personal. It is therefore a great error to limit the woman’s travail to Mary, or the man child only to Jesus. The figure of the woman and the man child is far more sweeping, envisioning, not only the personal Seed, but the corporate seed of the woman which includes not only the spiritual seed, but also the physical seed through whom alone the promise of the everlasting covenant can be fulfilled in an all holy Jewish nation as the theocratic head of the nations.

The end of the covenant that will realize the return of the natural branches (Ro 11:27) envisions the glorious convergence of the earthly and heavenly Zion at Christ’s return. The woman is an inclusive figure that includes the elect nation, I would say, even in its unbelief as the abiding object of an irrevocable election, and also the believing ‘remnant of her seed who keep the commandments of Jesus’. Thus, the woman represents both Israel and the church, as the righteous remnant within the still elect nation.

Now notice a great mystery: Isa 66:7-8 shows the astonishing anomaly of the birth of a man child BEFORE the woman travails. Then, only AFTER Zion’s travail, the nation is born in one day.

“Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.”

This is the riddle that Rev 12 will solve. If we understand the woman to represent both the heavenly and the earthly Zion, we see that it is the heavenly Zion that brings forth the man child BEFORE the great tribulation. This stands in marked contrast to the earthly Zion whom Satan tries to exterminate before the covenant can be fulfilled in their return (Isa 59:21; Ro 11:27). Hence, there is one travail of the woman before the tribulation, and there is another travail of the woman that ‘IS’ the tribulation. It is only “when Zion travails’ that a nation is born in one day (Isa 66:8). This is in marked contrast to the ‘pre-tribulational’ travail that births the man chid BEFORE the pain of Israel comes in what is clearly the great tribulation (Isa 66:7 with Rev 12:1, 5-6). Obviously, the birth of the nation in one day refers to the post-tribulational day of the Lord, not May 14, 1948, as popularly taught.

I appreciate so much your willingness dear brother, so these are my questions:

1.– Acts 3:21 says “The heaven must receive Lord Jesus until the times of restoration of all things which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from acient times”

On the other hand the Lord Jesus said: “Elijah is coming and will restore all things” (Mathew 17:11)

2.– Revelation 3:10 refers to an “hour of test”

Both questions are very related so that the answer to one will reflect directly on the other. I will begin with the second, because it is decisive to the question of the church’s role in the eschatological restoration, since it is clear that only a church that is present in the tribulation could possibly be an instrument of restoration during that time. But before I come to what I believe Rev 3:10 means, let me say a little about what I’m sure it cannot mean.

Whether the church can be seen in the tribulation will depend entirely on how the church is conceived and defined. Only since the advent of modern dispensationalism has the concept been introduced that the body of Christ exists only between Pentecost and a rapture that removes the church before the start of the last seven years. According to dispensationalism, the new birth does not make one a member of Christ’s body unless it happens between Pentecost and the rapture. Those born again after the presumed pre-tribulational rapture are not considered to be part of the church. They belong to another, distinct ‘people of God’.

In this view, saints persecuted under Antichrist are called, ‘tribulation saints’ in order to distinguish them from so-called, “church saints.” The rapture that is supposed to precede the tribulation is conceived as a ‘reversal of Pentecost’ (their term). Dispensationalists believe that the Holy Spirit did not begin to indwell the saints until Pentecost and that this will end with the pre-tribulation rapture. After the rapture, the Spirit continues to be crucial in the new birth. He fills and empowers (just as He did the OT saints), but He does NOT indwell tribulation saints. They are NOT regarded as members of Christ’s body, the church; nor are any who are saved in the millennium considered to be members of Christ’s body, since they too sustain a pre-Pentecostal relationship to the Holy Spirit, as merely ‘with’ but not ‘in’ the believer. In short, the pre-tribulation rapture amounts to a retraction of Pentecost where the Spirit’s indwelling is concerned, since He is not considered to indwell believers either before Pentecost or after the rapture.

This view is built up according to dispensationalism’s interpretation of such texts as Jn 7:39 (“for the Holy Spirit was not yet given”); Jn 14:17 (“for He dwells with you and will be in you”); see also Acts 11:15 with 1Cor 12:13). Yet, the church is distinguished as the church by its advance reception of the very promise that is yet to come to the penitent remnant of Israel at the day of the Lord (Joel 2:1-2, 28-31; Isa 32:15-18; Eze 39:29; Zech 12:10; Acts 2:16-20). Will post-tribulational Israel be any less baptized, filled, and also indwelt by the Spirit than the church of this age? Are we to suppose that He will merely ‘come upon’ or be ‘with’ millennial Israel, and not also indwell them? How can the special gift of the Spirit that came at Pentecost be reversed when it is impossible to reverse the once and for all basis on which He is given, namely, namely, the glorification of Christ? (see Jn 7:39). Of course, the arguments against such a pitiful pneumatology (doctrine of the Holy Spirit) are too many to be entered upon here, as it would take us too far off our present purpose. I make the point only because, unless the church in its very nature is defined according to dispensational presuppositions (unheard of before the 19th century), then the presence of the saints in the tribulation is decisive proof that the church is present in the tribulation. In the pre-tribulational, dispensational view of Rev 3:10, there is no place for the church to play a role in the Elijah ministry of restoration. The evangelism of the nations is delegated to the 144,000 sealed from the 12 tribes of Israel, or to the two witnesses who come in the spirit and power of Elijah, since, in their view, the church has been physically removed.

There is another view that sees a ‘split rapture’ whereby the mature overcomer is taken and the compromised believers are left behind to endure the tribulation. This interpretation understands the promise of Rev 3:10, not as a promise to the church in general, but only to a special part of the church whom they call the ‘overcomers’. It tends to allow that some who are truly saved are left behind because they were not counted worthy to be among the special company of overcomers. In my view, this is to make a division between true, Spirit born believers that is not justified by scripture. It fails to distinguish between inheritance and reward. A distinction in spiritual attainment and eternal reward must not be confused with the ‘blessed hope’ that every believer has of perfected union with Christ and of reunion with all who ‘sleep in Jesus’ at His return (1Cor 15:23, 52; 1Thes 4:14-17; 2Thes 2:1; 2Tim 4:8; 1Jn 3:2-3). If we say that Rev 3:10 is a reference to an prior physical removal from the hour of testing, then it follows that any work of restoration is left to those who weren’t raptured (the ‘under-comers’?), or more likely the Elijah task would be delegated, in such case, to the two witnesses or the (newly saved?) 144,000. Note too that a study of the three woes in connection with the final three trumpets, together with other decisive evidence, puts beyond question that the ministry of the two witnesses is the second half of the week, as we shall see that this is also relevant to your question concerning the church’s role in the promised restoration.

But note who it is that overcomes in the book of Revelation. It is the same who overcomes in the book of 1John, namely, those who are genuinely born of God. In the Revelation those who overcome are those who choose martyrdom over the pressure to yield to the mark of the beast. In such case, to NOT overcome is to be irreversibly reprobated and damned. He who overcomes is not speaking of a special privileged group that will be exempt from the hour of testing. The overcomer is the saint that perseveres in the hour of ultimate testing by a faith that overcomes precisely because it is born of God (1Jn 5:4). Such perseverance under trial is a sign of true regeneration (1 Jn 5:1).

But who is more of an overcomer than Paul? It is therefore of highest importance where Paul sees his own resurrection and the resurrection or rapture of “all” who belong to Christ at His coming (1Cor 15:23, 52-54; 2Tim 4:8). Paul sees his own “change” at the same place the scripture puts Job’s ‘change’ and resurrection, namely, the day of the Lord (Job 14:13-14; 19:25-27 with Zech 14:1-4). Both Daniel’s and Isaiah’s personal resurrection are likewise placed after the tribulation at the day of the Lord (Isa 25:7-8; 26:16-21). It is the resurrection of the ‘last day’. This is also where Jesus puts the resurrection of all who would believe on Him. Until Alexander Reese challenged the glaring inconsistency, earlier dispensational writers had most inconsistently placed the resurrection of the OT saints at the pre-trib rapture.

Only since dispensationalism’s doctrine of a pre-tribulation rapture and the supposed distinction of ‘church saints’ from all other saints (i.e., OT saints, tribulation saints, and millennial saints), has it ever been imagined that the resurrection of the OT righteous must wait an additional seven years after the church has been taken from earth to heaven. Yet, the constant promise of the NT is that the church’s blessed hope is to be gathered together unto Christ at the day of the Lord (Mt 24:29-31; Ro 2:5, 16; 1Cor 1:8; 5:5; Phil 1:6, 10; 2:16; 2Thes 1:7-8, 10; 2:2,3, 8; 2Tim 1:12, 18; 4:8; Heb 10:25; 2Pet 3:10, 12; Jude 5; Rev 16:14-15). For this very cause, pre-tribulationists have twice changed their position on the location of the day of the Lord. They are forced by their system to do do. The first time was in response to Alexander’s Reese’s, “The Approaching Advent of Christ.” In response to the ferment that his book stirred among scholars, the day of the Lord was moved forward from the end of the tribulation to now include the entire seven years. The last time was in response to Robert H. Gundry’s, “The Church and theTribulation.”

Gundry showed beyond dispute that the pre tribulation doctrine of an imminent (any moment) rapture crumbles if it is held that the rapture begins the day of the Lord. This is obvious, since Paul is very clear that “that day” cannot come until after the man of sin has first been revealed (2Thes 2:3). The response to Gundry’s challenge was to propose yet another space of time between the rapture and the beginning of the day of the Lord. This would give time for the Antichrist to be revealed sometime after, with no clear view of how long after the any moment rapture, but before the beginning of the thief-like coming of the day of the Lord. You see what lengths these expositors must go to save their theory.

Of course, such an artful evasion will simply not work! As I show elsewhere, the day of the Lord comes only AFTER the stellar upheaval and darkness that immediately follows the tribulation but precedes the day of the Lord (Mt 24:29 with Acts 2:20) You may wish to check my article on the website: “The Rapture Question Decisively Answered by the Timing of the Day of the Lord.” The day of the Lord simply cannot be spread out to include the entire seven years, not even the last 3 1/2 years that so nearly anticipates it. The day of the Lord is the climax of the tribulation and the beginning of the millennium. It is the climactic point of transition between this age and the age to come. This can be seen from the following evidence:

When the armies of the earth are gathering to the battlefields of Armageddon near the time of the Antichrist’s destruction (Dan 11:44-45; Rev 16:12-17), the day of the Lord is said to be “near” It is not yet “here”! (Isa 13:6, 10-11; 34:8; Eze 30:3; 39:8 22, 28-29; Joel 3:2, 11-16; Obad 15-17; Zeph 1:7, 14-15; 3:8; Mal 4:5; Rev 16:12-15 with 2Pet 3:10. 12; compare especially Rev 16:17 with Eze 39:8). In order to save the doctrine of imminence (i.e., that Christ may appear any moment), pretribulationists must try to locate the day of the Lord at the start of the seven years. But is is not the rapture that comes as a thief, but the day of the Lord (1Thes 5:3), and “that day” (the DOL) shall NOT come except there come first the falling away and the revelation of the man of sin” (2Thes 2:1-3, 8), so very clearly, the day of the Lord is NOT imminent. It is NOT an event that can begin at any time. It canNOT begin until after the Antichrist is revealed (2Thes 2:3).

Observe: Even so late as the 6th bowl, Jesus announces that His thief-like coming is still ahead (Rev 16:12-15). This agrees perfectly with 2Pet 3:10, 12, where the day of the Lord that comes ‘as a thief’ is also called the “day of God,” just as the post-tribulational, Armageddon return of Christ is called, “the great day of God Almighty” (Rev 16:14). This is the same post-tribulational coming that Jesus compares to a thief in His Olivet prophecy in Mt 24:43. Here is where scripture puts the thief-like return of Jesus, which is the day of the Lord.

Furthermore, Paul puts his own resurrection at the last trump. Shall we put the rapture and ascent of an overcomer group ahead of where Paul puts his own translation or resurrection? Where exactly does Paul put the ‘last trump’ that translates the church? Paul is very clear where he is putting the trumpet when he says, “THEN shall be brought to pass the saying that is written …” (1Cor 15:54). When is ‘then’? What is ‘the saying’ and where is it written? The answer to these questions is decisive for what Paul has in mind. The saying, “death is swallowed up in victory,” is found in Isa 25:8. Note that the context is undeniably post-tribulational. It belongs to a section in Isaiah that scholars call, “Isaiah’s little apocalypse” (Isa 24-27). As part of the continuing prophetic narrative, Isaiah places his own resurrection at the end of the great tribulation (Isa 26:16-21). We find the same order of events in Daniel where he too is raised after the time of unequaled trouble (see Dan 12:1-2, 13). What is more, the very trumpet that Jesus mentions in connection with His post-tribulational return (Mt 24:29-31) is certainly the same that is mentioned in Isa 27:13 in the same context.

It cannot be doubted that the “gathering together of the elect” in Mt 24:31 in connection with the great trumpet is the same “gathering together” of believers (“our gathering together unto Him”) in 2Thes 2:1. It is all on the same day, the day of the Lord (2Thes 2:1-3). In John’s Revelation, it is significant that there are no further trumpets to be sounded after the 7th, which finishes the mystery of God, raises the dead, and announces the judgment of the nations (Rev 10:7; 11:15-18). How remarkable then, in the face of such massive evidence, to be bound to a theory that expects Paul’s ‘last trump’ to be seven years earlier than this well known trumpet that sounds at the end of the tribulation.

How then, without labored qualification, could Paul have ever expected his first century hearers to NOT confuse a supposed pre-trib resurrection trumpet with this well known resurrection trumpet that Isaiah and Jesus mentions in connection with the Lord’s return and Israel’s post-tribulational deliverance? Therefore, in view of where Paul puts his own resurrection, I am not inclined to imagine an earlier rapture of any kind, as this would leave the final work of restoration to someone other than the church, the pillar and ground of truth. Furthermore, it would rob God of His intention that gentile believers in particular be those who will move the Jew to jealousy.

These are only a few of the reasons why Rev 3:10 cannot mean a pre-tribulation rapture of any part of the church. Pretribulational dispensationalists will object that the church is nowhere to be found after ch 4 of Revelation. This is a very artificial and ungrounded objection because it assumes that terms such as “elect” and “saints” do not imply the presence of the church. Never, in all the history of the church has it ever been conceived or taught that the born again elect saints of God are not also the living members of Christ’s body. This is a new theory that has appeared as a Trojan horse in the evangelical camp for such a time as this. It would be quite surprising if the word church should be used in the Revelation to describe the universal experience of the church in the tribulation. Throughout the NT, the word, ‘church’ is seldom used to describe saints in general. It is used only very occasionally for the corporate, universal body of Christ. Its far more common usage is to describe a local assembly of believers. It would be strange indeed if the word church should be used in the more apocalyptic sections of Revelation where the former apocalypse of Daniel provides the background for its use of the word, ‘saints’.

Who are the saints if not the church? It is only the peculiar ecclessiology (doctrine of the church) of dispensationalism that has ever said differently. Besides, the church is mentioned again in Revelation by a term that even dispensationalists admit refers to the church. “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb …” (Rev 19:7-9). Except for pretribulational presuppositions, the natural reading of this imagery is placed in the context of Jesus’ white horse return at Armageddon. The saints on earth are immediately united in the air with the myriads of departed redeemed that descend with Jesus at His return (1Thes 3:13; 4:14 with Zech 14:5; Joel 3:11; Isa 13:3 with Ps 149:5-9). The marriage supper of the Lamb coincides perfectly with Isa 25:6-9 where the context is the time of the resurrection, Israel’s deliverance, and the removal of the veil that covers all nations. This coincides perfectly with the finishing of the mystery of God at the 7h trumpet (Isa 25:7 with Rev 10:7; 11:15)

Therefore, unless we are willing to conceive a special resurrection for so-called overcomers that happens before the tribulation, and thus before the last trump where Paul sees his own resurrection with all other believers (1Cor 15:23, 52-54; 2Thes 2;1; 1Tim 4:8), then we may conclude that Rev 3:10 cannot be a promise of physical removal for the church or any part of the church. What then are we to understand of this precious promise of comfort and reassurance? Since the promise is made to one church in particular facing the great persecutions of Rome, it will not do to restrict its meaning and application only to the church of the last generation. However, since the seven churches of Asia are representative of the church of all time, and since the language of Rev 3:10 is so obviously a reference to the well known eschatological trial that is the transition between this age and the age to come, the promise is to all who will be divinely enabled to stand in the evil day. In what sense does the patient endurance of believers commend them to the promise to be kept from (‘ek’) the hour of temptation that is coming as a snare on all who dwell on the earth”? How are we kept? Is it by complete removal so that one is not physically in the hour? Or is the keeping from the peril that the hour holds?

On strictly linguistic grounds, either interpretation is possible. Its nearest parallel is Jn 17:15, “I do not pray that You should take them ‘out of’ the world, but that You should keep them ‘from’ the evil one.” Here, the idea is deliverance “from” the power of evil, not its presence. When Jesus said, “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour” (Jn 12:27), it was not merely an hour within natural chronology, but prospects of the awful ordeal that made His prophetic consciousness to wince and recoil at the terrors the hour would bring. Thus, ‘kept from the hour’ becomes a figure of speech for deliverance and escape from what the hour of ultimate testing threatens.

But there is a phrase in this promise that has a very close parallel to its frequent usage throughout the Revelation. It is “them that dwell on the earth” (Rev 6:10; 11:10; 12:12; 13:8, 12, 14; 14:6; 17:8). In most instances, it becomes almost a technical term for the world of the unregenerate that are exposed to the wrath of the last plagues. Its closest parallel is found in Luke 21:35. Look at it in its larger context: “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a ‘snare’ shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man” (Luke 21:34-36). Here, I believe, is the key for how we should understand Rev 3:10.

The ‘hour’ of Rev 3:10 is the time that a terrible “snare / temptation” will overtake all earth dwellers who are not counted worthy to escape its deadly deception. It is the time immediately preceding and climaxing with “that day,” the day of the Lord, when men shall stand, or ‘not be able’ to stand before the Son of Man. It is the day that overtakes the unbelieving world as a thief (Mt 24:43-44; 1Thes 5:1-3; Rev 3:3; 16:15). It comes suddenly in a time they (the earth dwellers) are not expecting. Not only will it bring an unequaled test of persecution for believers and sore plagues of wrath upon unbelievers, it will be preceded by a deception (snare) that will be unequaled, so great that had it been possible, even the very elect would have been swept away by the strong delusion. It is this deadly deception that will ensnare the nations. It is from this great apostasy (world rebellion) that Rev 3:10 promises escape and preservation, not through physical absence but through gracious protection.

But there appear to be a broad and a narrow use of the term, ‘hour’ in Revelation. In Rev 17:12, the hour seems to include the entire 3 1/2 years of unequaled tribulation, since this is the time that the ten kings are united with the beast in their war against the whore, but in Rev 18:10, 17, 19, the hour is much more narrowly defined. It is the great day of God Almighty in final judgement on the whore, as this time, the judgment is inflicted directly and much more finally by God Himself. This takes us to the very end of the tribulation, and even here, there is a great moment of testing that will confront the nations. It is the time of the “valley of decision” (Joel 3:14) when the nations are being seduced by evil spirits to move against the Antichrist but meet instead the unexpected return of Jesus at Armageddon (compare Dan 11:44-45 with Rev 16:12-17; 19:19).

So I ask; is the hour of trial the entire tribulation? Or is this hour a more narrow point of time at the end of the tribulation? When the final hour of Babylon’s destruction comes, the risen saints will participate with Jesus in her judgment (see Zech 14:5; Joel 3:11; Isa 13:3 with Ps 149:5-9). In such case, they will be with the Lord at that hour. I believe the hour of testing refers to the entire tribulation from the time of the abomination to the end, but even if, for the sake of argument, it should be insisted that “kept from the hour” should be interpreted to mean physical absence, it still would not necessarily mean removal from the entire 7 years, or even the last 3 1/2 years, but only the “hour” of mystery Babylon’s final destruction at the great day of God Almighty (Rev 16:17-19; 18:10, 17, 19).

It also important to note that many, including both Jews an gentiles, obviously do not require physical removal in order to escape the judgments of the tribulation. Some of these who obviously did not take the mark of the beast are preserved to the end. We know that a remnant of Israel survives the tribulation to receive repentance at the same time the church is being translated into their glorified state. These penitent survivors enter the millennium in mortal bodies. From a number of scriptures, we know that the penitent remnant of Israel will be assisted in their return by surviving gentiles who manifestly were not translated at the rapture.

As an aside, some pretribulationists have interpreted Lk 21;34-36 as a promise of escape by rapture, but many of their more academic leaders and scholars have cautioned against such an interpretation, because the context simply will not bear it. The entire context assumes believers witnessing and experiencing the events of the tribulation in anticipation of the Lord’s return after the tribulation. The same thing can be said of the Lord’s comparison of His coming as a thief in Mark and Matthew. Any close examination of the context will show that the coming in view is the coming after the tribulation. This is admitted even by pre-trib scholars, but the average pre-tribulationist hardly knows what the scholars of their position have been forced to concede in the more academic discussions on these questions, as mentioned above in the example of their changing positions on the day of the Lord.

Now I come to your first question: So far then as it can be firmly established that the church goes through the tribulation, then the church, as the pillar and ground of the truth (1Tim 3:15), will be the corporate prophetic agent through whom the Spirit of God will speak and work. I believe the restoration anticipated in Mt 17:11 and Mal 4:5 is to be somewhat distinguished from the restoration of Acts 3:21, though part of the same process. The restoration of Mal 4:5 takes place in the tribulation and is consummated by the restoration that comes fully only with Jesus’ return.

What is restored? It is all that was lost when the kingdom of David and Solomon passed under the power of the gentiles. It is all that was promised in the everlasting covenant that would come to full in the day-of-the-Lord vindication of the name and Word of God in Israel’s national repentance and return. That’s what a Jew thought of when he would speak of the ‘restoration of the kingdom to Israel’ (Acts 1:6; 3:21). It is what Paul was thinking of when he spoke of “their fullness” in contrast to the “fullness of the gentiles” (Ro 11:12, 15, 25-29. It is what Ezekiel, Obadiah, and Jesus had in mind when they spoke of the day of the Lord as the terminal point to the “time of the goyim” (Eze 30:3; Obad 15; Lk 21:24). It is also the fullness of Christ in the many membered man that God has ordained to fill up in the church before His return (Dan 11:32-33; Ro 11:25; Eph 4:13; Rev 12:10).

I believe Mt 17:11 and Mal 4:5 will be fulfilled in the ministry of the two witnesses, but not only the two witnesses. The two witnesses are real individuals, not a re-incarnations of Moses, Enoch, or Elijah, but they will come in the spirit and power of Elijah. They are local in the actual city of Jerusalem with a special assignment, unique to their calling, but they are not the only ones who receive power at this time. It is no mere coincidence that the two witnesses receive power for their task at precisely the same time that the ‘maskilim’ (those having insight; Dan 11:32-33; 12:3, 10) are empowered for their testimony throughout the last 3 1/2 years. It is very significant to note that immediately after the abomination of desolation is mentioned in Dan 11:31 (remember this is the very event that Jesus says starts the tribulation; Mt 24:15-16, 21), the very next verse speaks of the anointing of power that rest on those having insight (the ‘maskilim’) who “know their God.” Something has happened, and this is confirmed by what we see in Rev 12 where Michael casts down Satan to begin his “short time” of final fury against the woman and the saints (Rev 12:12).

Again, it is not incidental that when the “accuser of the brethren” is cast down, the saints are described as those who “love not their lives unto the death” (Rev 12:10). All of this happens at the mid point of Daniel’s last week. It happens in heaven and on earth. It is the point of great release, not only the mystery of iniquity in the Antichrist, but the fullness of Christ in a people of the Spirit who have been deeply emptied and prepared for the removal of Satan from his access and position in heaven as the accuser of the brethren. I can’t develop here all the implications this has for the church’s ministry of restoration in the tribulation, but our brother, Tom Quinlan has preserved a discussion I give on this at our first annual conference in Ohio. You can find that discussion posted on video on our website under, “The Church’s Tribulation Fullness.”

Also, you may wish to consult an article called, “Daniel as a Type of the Godly Remnant.”

You and the precious band that serve with you there are daily in our prayers. With greatest love and appreciation, Reggie

Would you go as far to say that this is the type of figure (see the linked article) we are looking for to fulfill the role of the Anti Christ?

This is indeed the ‘kind’ of fellow who could “come up and become strong with a small people” (Dan 11:23; rejecting the translations that arbitrarily supply the word, “number” that completely skews the meaning). What other ‘small people’ is more strategically positioned to be exploited as a means of the Antichrist’s rise to power than the Palestinians?

I believe a new Palestinian state could be a prime candidate for the fulfillment of this prophecy. Already, Dahlan is “scattering among them the prey, spoil, and riches,” even before the ‘time of tranquility’ that follows the league made with the Antichrist (Dan 11:21, 23-24). So could such an one move into the position of the despicable person (little horn) of Dan 11:21? Whether Dahlan or one like him, I certainly think such a scenario more than possible; I would say it is likely. This is the ‘kind’ of thing I expect.

There is only one thing that doesn’t seem to fit, which could easily change. It is the present support of the enormously wealthy gulf states, whom I see as represented by Sheba and Dedan in Eze 38:13. You will note that these nations are none too happy with the AC’s move to overrun the Land and violate the covenant. For me, this is a real key as to how we should conceive of the Antichrist assault on Jerusalem with his ten nation alliance. My reasons are not only exegetical, but based on a principal of irony in God’s judgment of the whore.

Note the context: By the time of the Antichrist invasion, Israel has become what I expect to be the ‘jewel of the Middle East,” a coveted prize, not only strategically and religiously, but also economically (Eze 38:12-13).

You know my view that the covenant that the AC confirms is not only with many Jews, as usually interpreted, but more probably with many nations, and the view I take that these protectorate powers are represented by the ‘ships of Kittim’ in Dan 11:31, which appears to be either the U.S. or some NATO alliance that is committed to guard the peace arrangement that has included the necessary recognition of Israel’s right to exist, and we may infer provisions for Jewish access to the temple mount, etc.

i believe we might be surprised as to how many of the world’s nations will unite in common support of this agreement. These stand to gain great economic advantage through the peace. I believe this cooperation of nations is very nearly compared to what many think of when they speak of a New World Order. In contrast are the Arab / Islamic powers that are most incensed against the covenant (Dan 11:28-30) and seek opportunity to countermand the power and influence of the west in his bid for absolute power over Israel and the surrounding territories.

“These (the ten kings) shall hate the whore and burn her flesh with fire …” (Rev 17:16). You know that my view of the whore, though implying a much more ubiquitous world-encompassing phenomenon, at least includes Jerusalem in its alliance with the western powers that are pledged to guarantee the security of the covenant.

Contrary to the most popular views on prophecy, the Antichrist is God’s judgment on the NWO (humanistic west) with their vision for ecumenical and international cooperation in policing a peace that will safeguard the desired flow of the world’s economy. I see the scourge of the final AC in much the same way that Islam was the scourge of the west in past history. I see his ten nation alliance as a strategic countermeasure that will, in an unexpected moment, act like a bowling ball that scatters the pins. He will break up, not put together, the cohesion of the nations that aspire to a western dominated NWO.

His sudden and unexpected move against Jerusalem as a resurrected man will position him to wrest the economic advantage from the west (the woman and the ephah returned back to its original base at Shinar; Zech 5). This will be the great shift of power by which he will be able to dictate economic terms to the west, requiring compliance with his policies, chief among which will be his aim to rid the world of the Jewish menace. Those who refuse to comply will be deprived of the basic necessities of life, so that not only those who support him, whether through worship or terror, but all who wish to survive will accommodate his pursuit of the woman through the wilderness of the countries.

What I am suggesting here is a fresh reading of Eze 38:13-14 in light of international support for a peace that works to the advantage of the west and the rich gulf states. It is this balance of power that the AC will seek to reverse through his ten nation union. His sudden invasion of Jerusalem, backed now by the ten nation alliance, and perhaps, even probably, such world powers to the north such as Turkey or Russia, will meet with what is represented in scripture as a helpless protest from the oil rich gulf states. We may infer the same is true of those western nations that are represented in scripture as the ‘ships of Kittim’ (Dan 11:30). Between verse 30 of Dan 11 and Dan 11:31, a tremendous shift in power has taken place that can only be explained by the resurrection of this man at the middle point of Daniel’s seventieth week.

At the point of Dan 11:30, he can still be checked in a second southward advance that is intercepted and turned back by the ships of Kittim. In the very next verse, Dan 11:31, “arms stand on his part.” From this point, he can no longer be checked by even the formidable power of the western alliance. In contrast to the events of Dan 11:30, the question now to be raised in Dan 11:31 is, “who can make war with the beast?”

From this point, the nations are made to look on while he has his way with Israel and from Israel on to the regional conquests that continues to the end (Dan 11:40-45). From the time of his resurrection, he is able now to unite all of those whom he had been courting to unite with him in his secret designs against the holy covenant (Dan 11:27-29).

This will not sit well with many, but in my view, the whore that the ten kings hate and burn with fire may well be a combination of U.S. (the great Satan) and Israel (the little Satan), particularly Jerusalem. Never understand me to suggest that Jerusalem is all there is to the whore, but a considerable case can be made that Jerusalem is spiritually contemplated as part of the whore, and the principal target of the first part of the war that begins with the invasion of Jerusalem and ends with Armageddon.

ReggieKellyFOT2012lite3 from Mt Zion Church, Bemidji on Vimeo.

In the above presentation Reggie refers to his article “Avoiding the False Alarms of Prophetic Speculation.” For your convenience HERE is a link to that paper.

Reggie Kelly and Adam Smith also participated in a Q and A Forum (with John Parsons moderating) during the same convention. That video can be found HERE.

He was never king of a small power before coming into “the glory of the kingdom” (Dan 11:21). He rose to power in the place of his murdered older brother in one of the “notable” (sizable) horns of Alexander’s long since divided kingdom, the mighty Seleucid Empire. That’s NOT a little horn in the sense that scripture makes that distinction.

The Antichrist must be a little horn (actual king or leader of a smaller political power) in his beginnings. AFTER the league made with him, he “comes up and becomes strong with a small people (Dan 11:23) … at a time of security (Dan 11:24). At some point, he unites with the ten in common cause. The scripture says he comes up AMONG them, and rises AFTER them (Dan 7:8, 24). Three of the ten are forced into his orbit of power through conquest.

Just when this occurs in relation to the false peace that provides for temple and sacrifice is not as clear, but it is clear if the ‘little horn’ of Dan 7 & 8 is the ‘despicable person’ of Dan 11:21, then it seems very clear that the move from a little power to a much greater power in one of the four divisions of Alexander’s kingdom is significantly “AFTER the league made with him” Dan 11:23. If this “league” is the same or coincident with the covenant that the coming prince confirms with many in Dan 9:27, then the time of his ascent into the greater kingdom becomes plain. We shall see.

What is really fantastic scrambled eggs is what strikes me as the ridiculous, presupposition driven attempt of expositors to separate the “little horn” of Dan 7:8 from the “little horn” of Dan 8:9. Sorry if I sound a bit scrappy here, but they really should to be called on this. Here in twin chapters is a self exalting prince at the time of the “END”, both (as they were two) speaking boastful words against the prince of Princes, and both, by every expositor’s reckoning, taking away the regular sacrifice (Dan 8:11: 12:11), and we are to believe that Antiochus is the ‘little horn” in Dan 8 and the Antichrist is the “little horn” in Dan 7, and never the twain shall meet? Hardly!

Reggie

Two Questions: Why it is that you say the kingdom cannot come in its fullness so long as Satan retains access to heaven? We know that Satan accuses the saints in heaven but why is that related to the mystery of lawlessness being fully revealed on earth?

Let me build to my answer. When Paul says the day of the Lord can’t come until the man of sin is revealed, he further shows that the coming of the man of sin brings to final revelation the mystery of iniquity that is presently at work. But before this mystery can be revealed, someone who is holding back that revelation will continue to do so until “he” (personal pronoun) is removed (I believe forcibly). As you know, I believe that someone is Satan. We see the evidence for the background of Paul’s insight in Dan 10 where the heavenly messenger is “hindered and opposed” (‘withstood’) by the opposing “prince of Persia.” So for Christ to return, this man must first come, as he is the personal embodiment of the revelation of a mystery that must first be revealed before Christ can return.

In Revelation we see a similar pattern. There, it is said that the kingdom of God has NOW come, precisely because Satan has been cast down by Michael. The question is, does he continue to accuse the saints after he has been cast down, or has something happened in his dejection that has denied him access to the conscience from that time and forward. In other words, does this transitional point at the middle of the week accomplish something in the realm of the Spirit that not only removes Satan from his former hindrance to the coming of the kingdom, but from his prosecution against the conscience. Whether this extends to every born again child of God, or to an overcoming minority at this point, I cannot tell with certainty. I suspect the latter, because I think this signifies a great sanctification, and fullness of revelation and power for a first-fruits company that are very aware they are facing the final persecution.

I am suggesting that in some special sense, the heavenly victory of Michael marks not only the beginning of the tribulation in Satan’s embodiment of the Antichrist, but also a point from which Satan is no longer able to wage war against the consciences of believers that have come through to something transitional through the preparation of the first half of the week. I am not claiming it as settled revelation, but I strongly infer that when Satan is cast down, and this is not before the middle of the week when Michael stands up, something has also ended of his ability to accuse the brethren.

That this is something that has been accessible all throughout the inter-advent period when believers gain the victory of full assurance and the power that this brings, I do not doubt. What I’m suggesting is that the glorious gospel of Christ is being so deeply apprehended corporately at this time that Satan’s hindrance of believers in the realm of heart and conscience is also being greatly removed. There appears to be a finality to his ability to accuse the brethren from that time and forward, as the church comes into its tribulation fullness. See what I mean?

We’re agreed that the standing up of Michael in Dan 12:1 and Rev 12:7-14 is clearly at the beginning of the tribulation, coinciding with Satan’s “short time” (Rev 12:12). Thus it is that Satan’s removal from his place in heaven is the removal of the hindrance to the revelation of the mystery of iniquity in the man of sin, which stands in the way of the coming of the day of the Lord / kingdom of God. Manifestly, then, there is some sense in which Satan holds this place in heaven until he is forcibly removed by Michael (BTW, the Holy Spirit, who is God, does not require to be “taken out of the way”). Simply put, the coming of the day of the Lord is the equivalent of the coming of the kingdom. This cannot happen till the restrainer (Satan) has been dislodged from his place in heaven, a place that he, in some sense, retains until the Michael ejects him at the mid-point of Daniel’s last week. When the cast down Satan takes up full residence in the revived body of the AC, this fulfills the mystery of iniquity, which must be revealed before Christ can come to gather His elect. You’ll remember the case I made that the 70 week prophecy is structured around these two great, age defining mysteries (1Tim 3:16; 2Thes 2:7) that take their departure from the seed promise of Gen 3:15, how that the age is bounded by these two mysteries explains the gap between the gap between the 69th and the 70th weeks of Daniel.

“And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ:for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.” Rev 12:10
 
Since it cannot be denied that there remains some sense in which Satan holds a place of resistance in heaven until he is forcibly thrust down by Michael, it becomes very significant that the shout of jubilation in Rev 12:10 declares mighty presence of the kingdom that comes 3 1/2 years BEFORE Satan is bound at Christ’s return. The “NOW” of Rev 12:10 must be emphasized. Why now? Obviously, the thing for which the kingdom of God has long waited has taken place. Therefore, not 3 1/2 years later when Christ returns, but “NOW is come salvation, strength, the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ!” The now of the kingdom’s powerful presence is not advent of kingdom in the sense of the 7th angel of Rev 11:15-18 or the finishing of the mystery of God in Rev 10:7. Rather, the “now” comes at the moment Michael cast Satan down to begin his ‘short time.’

The once and for all removal of the one who has been hindering the fall coming of the kingdom is greeted by the host of heaven with unbounded jubilation and the kingdom is pronounced at the point to have “now” come. This leaves the question, is the jubilation only because the kingdom “may” now come, or that in some powerful way, the “power of the kingdom” has come with the casting down of Satan? I believe it is the latter. This marks a point of powerful transition, not only for the mystery of iniquity, but for an unprecedented victory of the saints on earth over the accuser’s ability to accuse. It is not incidental that this is also the time of the great anointing, not only of the two witnesses, but of the maskilim who are strong doing exploits, instructing and turning many to righteousness (Dan 11:32-35; 12:3), responsible, I believe, for the tribulation harvest beyond human ability to count.

It is significant that immediately AFTER the abomination of desolation is described in Dan 11:31, the next verses speak of the power and anointing that is on the maskilim. This also marks the time of the greatest harvest that comes out of “the tribulation, the great one.” It suggests to me that the anointing of power is not only coming on the two witnesses at this time, but the godly remnant, the true body of Christ in the earth. Why? Precisely because the casting down of the accuser has meant a great heavenly victory of overcoming power for the church facing the last persecution. I am suggesting that something mighty and transitional has happened in heaven and earth that releases this break-through of great anointing and power. What can it be? It is not just incidental to the intersection of the time. Something or rather someone has been removed and there is an open heaven of access and grace that is unprecedented since the apostolic period. This, I believe, is related to our battle with the veil that is only as dense as the flesh is strong. It has to do with revelation and the power that comes when we are the more greatly emptied of subtlety of a residual tendency to put any confidence in the flesh. Before Jacob is brought to the end of his power, the church will have been emptied of the last measure of the sinful tendency to put any confidence in the flesh.

I know at first hearing, this may sound quite speculative, but I submit, as scripture is clear, that there is a profound connection between a believer’s lingering self sufficiency and the access of the accuser to that believer’s conscience, even as John would speak of some through weakness of faith are condemned in their hearts, though God, who is greater than our hearts, is not at all party to this sense of condemnation. All’s to say, something has happened with the casting down of Satan, particularly in his role as accuser of the brethren, that not only removes the barrier to the coming of the kingdom through the revelation of the mystery of iniquity, on the dark side, so to speak, but on the side of light, the accuser has, in some unprecedented sense, lost access to the consciences of believers. Certainly that access is, and has always been illicit. Still, believers have suffered and been hindered by Satan’s illicit accusations.

This coming victory in heaven is not something that is entirely new. It began, of course, with the ascended victory of Christ. I believe that what we have in Rev 12, as prelude to the tribulation, is a mighty enforcement of the authority and power of that once and for all triumph. Something happens at the middle of the week in that great transition in heaven that permits a much greater “corporate” fullness for the church. Something transformative appears to take place that permits the corporate body to receive a special and timely anointing that I can only conceive of as a deeper apprehension and appropriation of the power of the gospel. There are other clear markers that indicate that this comes precisely when Michael gains that mighty victory in heaven that starts the tribulation, which is undeniably Satan’s ‘short time’ of the final 3 1/2 years. This is the time of great transition and break-through that not only anoints the two witnesses with power, but the whole company of the maskilim, as shown in Dan 11:31-35; 12:3, 10. All of this stands in remarkable analogy to Daniel’s great break through, when, through his self-abasement and intercession, Michael dislodged the opposing prince of Persia. This is coming for the church. It will thrust Satan down to reveal the mystery of iniquity by his incarnation in the risen Antichrist and thus finish the mystery of God in Christ’s return (Rev 10:7).

There’s a correlation between the believer’s abiding sufficiency and the accuser’s access to the conscience. This will be greatly broken by the remnant’s heavenly victory and release to fullness, as the first half of the week constrains the church through amazing prophetic fulfillment and knowledge of the time, to a deep corporate self-emptying, as Daniel abased, himself. This will be answered in Michael’s mighty intervention. It is the nexus between the time, the corporate travail (intercessory priesthood) of the church (till Christ be formed in Israel), and revelation of Daniel’s sealed vision in gospel clarity and fullness, as realized corporately for the final martyr witness. Daniel is the key, not only his prophecy, but in his intercessor’s travail in sync with the definite knowledge of the time, which also limits the power of the flesh. This is how I see a connection between the accuser’s displacement and the power that comes on the church at that time.

On the dark side, the mystery of iniquity is Satan’s forced occupation of the fallen body of the Antichrist. As much as the fallen nature could only be by passed through the miracle of the virgin birth, the death and descent of the Antichrist accomplishes the exact opposite. In order for him to become the fullness of Satan in the flesh, all the residue of the image of God, conscience (or whatever that realm of soul or humanity should be called) must be entirely removed. This happens through the death and resurrection of the Antichrist. This is how the “revelation” of the man of sin is so much more than merely that he can be identified. His identity would have become plain much earlier through the deeds that are described of him in Daniel in the verses leading up to the abomination of desolation.

The revelation of the mystery of iniquity happens when Satan, now cast down, is forced, quite against his will, to take up a full and unlimited residence (not in terms of absolute localization, but in terms of the unlimited fullness of his nature, similar in that sense to Jesus as the perfection of His Father’s moral nature, but not so unlimited as Father in terms of omniscience and ubiquity). This is what he wanted to do with the body of Moses, I suppose in order to deceive Israel. With the mortal wound, the 7th beast descends into the abyss and rises as the eighth. He is now the composite beast, incorporating in one all the former heads of the beast kingdoms. As such, he is the “beast who was (as the 7th), and is not and yet is.” The eighth is the risen seventh. I see this as an actual demonic resurrection that is the exact opposite of the kind of life that God gives. It is permitted for the sake of an ultimate exposure that must come before the kingdom can come. It fulfills the last remaining mystery that must be revealed in order for the kingdom of God to come. Contrary to popular opinion, this is the last thing that Satan wants, since it will mean his time is almost over.

Certainly one cannot with bold conviction declare such a thing apart from the full assurance of clear revelation that cannot be received second hand, but I believe the day is not far off when witnesses will declare this. Jews everywhere will be confronted, not only with the prophetic evidence of the gospel, but with this awesome sign that will strongly confirm the warnings that have come from the disciples of Jesus, a warning that Isa 28 shows will be rejected in the first half of the week. It will be well considered in the second half, as I believe this is a principal reason why such a comparatively large number of Jews will escape what would otherwise have been certain death.

What follows began as an email that turned into an essay, long to read but critical to know.

My trip to the south was put on hold, but I will be going through Vermont, upstate NY and on up into Ontario for some stops. I would especially appreciate your prayer for those days that begin the 21st of this month. I am looking to the Lord for some things to be brought forth that have been long in waiting. It has to do with a revelation I received as a young man, and I believe that it’s the Lord’s timing.

Glad you’ve enjoyed and benefited from your use of Watson’s “Prophetic Interpretations’. He labors the point concerning the literal / actual time of Christ’s three days in the tomb primarily to vindicate his literal approach to prophetic interpretation, proving that a day means a literal day. The whole exercise is aimed to correct the spiritualizing method that promotes the ruinous ‘year day theory’, which makes each day in Daniel and Revelation to count for a year. It is the method that has done the most to undermine and discredit the study of prophecy. It has been responsible for producing one failed date after another. But its greatest mischief has been its tendency to divert the literal application of prophecy away from Israel. Furthermore, the church is robbed of the very means that God has ordained to prepare the godly remnant for the last witness to Israel to and the nations. That is why I thought the most important aspect of Watson’s work is his interpretation of the key importance of the abomination of desolation.

These things are so critical and timely for us now. Watson rightly sees the abomination as the central and pivotal event on which all else turns. It is a decisive key to the church’s readiness for the last battle, even as Jesus directs His disciples to Daniel’s reference to the abomination, with the instruction, “let the reader understand” (Mt 24:15). Furthermore, a true interpretation of Daniel establishes a clear view of the glory of God in history. It is this grand overview of the mystery of God that so moved Paul to such exalted praise and worship (Ro 11:33-36). The prophetic vision is not only for the functional purpose of preparing the church for its final test, it is the divinely chosen context wherein God has set the revelation of His glory for the faith and worship of His people (at all times and under all circumstances).

We should not be afraid of the ‘set times’ of God, since the absolute sovereignty of God over all things is the only bed-rock of certainty. Nor should we imagine that the predetermined fulfillment of ‘the scriptures of the prophets’ (Mt 26:56; Dan 11:36) is in any way detached from the place and role of prevailing prayer. We may be sure that nothing of all that God has determined will be accomplished apart from the treasury of prayer. There is no disjunction; the end will not come apart from the ‘filling up’ of the full measure of the collective prayers and holy groanings of the saints (Lk 11:2; Rev 8:4-5), and this brings me to something that has been on my heart of late.

I believe that an accurate understanding of Daniel’s prophetic vision is critical to the church’s attainment of a corporate ‘heave’ in the Spirit that will be used of God in Michael’s eviction of Satan, which permits the final revelation of the mystery of iniquity. We need to understand what this mystery is and why the age cannot end until it is revealed in the Man of Sin. Furthermore, it is crucial that the church comes to an awareness of its own part in a travail that terminates in Michael’s heavenly victory.

Through the discernable fulfillment of a definitely foretold sequence of preliminary events, the believing remnant will be brought to a place of corporate travail and utterness towards God. In analogy to the way that Jesus said that Peter would be taken by another where he would not have gone, the church will also follow the Lamb into a final obedience unto death. This obedience will not come with dread or uncertainty, but through a love that has cast out fear; it will be greeted with ‘joy unspeakable and full of glory’. Furthermore, all that prophecy makes clear concerning the church’s future is tremendously instructive for the present. I am referring particularly to the role of the church as corporate intercessor in Michael’s pre-tribulational triumph over Satan. I do not believe that Satan’s eviction and casting down to the earth by the agency of Michael will happen apart from the prevailing prayer of the church that knows itself with definite certainty to be at the threshold of the final conflict. [Here are some of the passages that relate to Israel’s delusive peace pact that starts the 3 and 1/2 year countdown to the abomination: Isa 28:15-18; Ezek 38:8, 11, 14; 39:26; Dan 8:10-14, esp. Dan 8:25; 9:27; 11:23-30; 1Thes 5:3.]

The great transition point in both heaven and earth is initiated by Michael’s eviction of Satan. This event in heaven begins the final unequaled tribulation of the last 3 1/2 years. Note that the same event that meets with such triumphant jubilation in heaven also announces the time of unequaled woe for the earth, as the earth’s greatest sorrow coincides with heaven’s greatest victory since the resurrection and ascension of Christ. In fact, as the imagery of Revelation shows, this transitional point is figuratively represented in analogy with the birth and ascension of Christ. Without question, Satan’s eviction from heaven starts the final persecution of Israel and the church as the woman’s seed (Dan 12:1 with Rev 12:7-17).

It is true that the pattern represented in the apocalyptic imagery of Revelation, has had a measure of fulfillment throughout the entire inter-advent period. But this last 3 and 1/2 years is not merely symbolic of a short time, but is set off by distinct prophetic events that have never yet been fulfilled in literal detail. Therefore, since not one jot or tittle can pass without fulfillment, it is better to see the final tribulation as representing the intense conclusion and fullness of those underlying principles that have generally characterized the conflict of the ages. Here all things come to a head. The church has always known tribulation, suffering, and trial, but this is “the tribulation, the great one” (Rev 7:14 as literally translated from the Greek double article). This is the tribulation without equal or parallel (Jer 30:7; Dan 12:1; Mt 24:21), and so far from the church being absent, it will be the church’s ‘finest hour’ (Dan 11:32-33; 12:3; Rev 12:10).

The church will be deeply prepared by the events leading up to the abomination. This will bring the godly remnant to a ‘Daniel-like’ urgency of travail and prevailing prayer. Such depths of intercession and purification will come in direct relation to the ‘set times’ of prophetic fulfillment, and conversely, the ‘set times’ are inextricably related to the prayers of the saints. So we could say that “when the church will ‘travail’, Michael will ‘prevail’.

Just as Michael came to Daniel’s aid by the removal of the opposing ‘prince of Persia’, the intercessory church, which will be moved to a great urgency by the manifest fulfillment of prophecy, will also receive help from Michael. This mighty break through of kingdom power comes with the final removal of the ‘one that hinders (compare 2Thes 2:7 with Rev 12:10). It is critical that we distinguish between the time that Satan is bound and the time that he is cast down. He is bound at the start of the millennium. He is cast down at the start of the tribulation, 3 and 1/2 years before the Lord’s return. Daniel shows that Michael stands up at the beginning of the tribulation (Dan 12:1), and Revelation shows that when Michael stands up, Satan is cast down to begin the “short time” of unequaled tribulation (Rev 12:7-17). We need to see the relationship of this heavenly transition to the events on earth that start the tribulation in order to understand its affect on Israel and the church.

Our interpretation will depend on whether we can justify making a connection between two key texts, namely, 2Thess 2:3-8 and Rev 12:7-17. We see in 2Thes 2:3-8 that the Day of the Lord awaits a particular event, namely, the revelation of the ‘mystery of iniquity’ in the Man of Sin (2:6), but this awaits the removal of the one that holds back or hinders (2:7). In Rev 12:10, we see that the kingdom cannot come so long as Satan retains his illicit residence in heaven. I believe the evidence will show that the restrainer that holds back the revealing of the mystery of iniquity is Satan. In analogy to Michael’s removal of the opposing Prince of Persia in Dan 10:13, Satan must also be forcibly dislodged from his place in heaven before the kingdom can come with Antichrist’s destruction at the post-tribulational Day of the Lord (2Thes 2:8; Rev 16:14-16; 19:17-21; Dan 7:11; Ezek 39:4-22).

A comparison of Dan 12:1 with Rev 12:7-12 will show that the same time is in view in both passages. Dan 11:36 with 2Thess 2:4 shows that same individual is in view, and Dan 8:11; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11 with Mt 24:15, 21 shows the relationship of all to the time of the abomination. Evidently the heavenly event of Satan’s expulsion is the catalyst for the earthly event of the abomination, since both are depicted as starting the tribulation. But of particular concern for the church is the observance that Michael is divinely empowered to evict Satan in response to the woman’s travail. We are interested to understand why the tribulation cannot begin until this happens and what kind of participatory role the church is destined to have in the travail that precedes the tribulation, a travail that appears to intensify as the time of birth (corporate birth?) draws near.

The metaphor of the woman’s travail to bring forth the seed reaches back to Gen 3:15. Isaiah employs the same language to describe a mysterious ‘before and after’ of Zion’s travail (Isa 66:7-8; see also Mic 5:3). The gospels reveal the fulfillment of the mystery of Gen 3:15 in Christ, the personal seed of the woman. [Significantly, Messiah’s conquest of sin and Satan proceeds according to the pattern of Israel’s history, from miraculous conception (Isaac), and escape (Moses), through rejection by His brethren (Joseph), through death by crucifixion (the exile, particularly ‘Jacob’s trouble), to resurrection, ascension, and return (after ‘two days’ the remnant of His brethren return with the millennial restoration and exaltation of Israel; Ezek 37:1-28; Hos 5:15 – 6:2; Mic 5:3; Mt 23:39).] However, the imagery doesn’t terminate on the personal seed, but extends to the corporate seed of the woman, the godly remnant, the ‘holy seed’, and ‘elect lady’.

According to Revelation 12:1-17, Christ’s return is contingent on a victory in the heavens that accomplishes a comparable pattern of birth and ascent in the experience of the corporate seed of the woman. This is often enough recognized by commentators, but what is too little recognized is the definite time of fulfillment. This great transition in the history of the kingdom of God happens at the mid-point of Daniel’s seventieth week (Dan 9:27), which marks the beginning of the last 3 1?2 years of the unequaled tribulation.

It is important to see that the tribulation coincides with the ‘short time’ of Satan’s wrath. According to Rev 12:10 the kingdom cannot come until after Satan has been cast down from heaven by Michael. This begins the final time of Satan’s wrath and woe for the earth (Rev 12:12). The earthly counterpart to this event in heaven is the self-exaltation of the Antichrist who enters the inner sanctuary of the temple of God at Jerusalem where he places the abomination of desolation (evidently an idol image of himself) in the holy place. Clearly, the great tribulation starts with this event (compare Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11; Mt 24:15-16, 21; 2Thes 2:4; Rev 11:2; 13:5).

We need to see the relationship between Michael’s forced eviction of Satan to the revelation of the mystery of iniquity as significantly concurrent with the time of the abomination. The revelation of the mystery of iniquity in the final Man of Sin means something much more than the recognition of his identity. This will be apparent well before he is revealed as the Man of Sin through a chronological order of events that lead up to the abomination (Dan 11:23-30). Though the Antichrist can be certainly identified by what is written of his pre-tribulational activities, this is not what is meant by the ‘revelation’ of the Man of Sin. Until the restrainer is removed, he is only ‘an’ antichrist, but his revelation as ‘the’ Man of Sin awaits a transitional miracle that happens in conjunction with Satan’s expulsion and the beginning of the tribulation (Rev 12:12-14).

The revelation of the mystery of iniquity (2Thes 2:7-8) in the final Man of Sin has to do with the point at which Satan takes up a full and unlimited residence in the revived body of the beast that suffered the mortal wound (Rev 13:3, 12). The full incarnation of the Serpent’s seed happens in conjunction with the resurrection of the mortally wounded beast. This happens in conjunction with the time as the result of Michael’s expulsion of Satan. With the miracle of the healing of the mortal wound, the beast is described as ascending out the abyss (Rev 11:7; 17:8) to continue a short space (Rev 17:10). The ‘short space’ of the last beast is identical to the ‘short time’ of Satan’s wrath (Rev 12:12). It is 42 month career of the Antichrist (Dan 7:11, 21, 25; Rev 12:12-14; 13:5) that begins in the middle of Daniel’s 70th week with the abomination (compare Mt 24:15, 21; 2Thes 2:3-4; Dan 9:27; 11:31-36; 12:1, 11).

With the astonishing revivification of the mortally wounded beast, the world of unredeemed humanity is made to “wonder … when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is” (Rev 17:8). This last beast, “who is of the seven,” appears to become the composite fullness of what all the former beasts revealed only in part (Rev 13:2), as the one “whose coming is after the working of Satan with ALL power and signs and lying wonders.” It will be the ultimate deception.

If this mystery is fulfilled in a man (and not in the revival of the Roman empire as some commentators assume), then it follows that the beast returns from the abyss at precisely the same time that Satan is being cast down to earth by Michael. So the heavenly event of Satan’s eviction is answered by a demonic resurrection that sets in motion the events of the tribulation. In the hubris of presumed invincibility, the resuscitated Antichrist proceeds at once to the temple of God in Jerusalem to place the abomination that starts the tribulation.

Paradoxically, all of heaven rejoices with the removal of Satan, even though it means the beginning of the earth’s greatest time of woe (Mt 24:21; Rev 12:12). But for the remnant that have passed through a time of deepest travail in view of what is at hand, the prospect of suffering cannot hurt the oil and wine of their joy, as the casting down of the Accuser will mean that a barrier of hindrance has been removed that permits a mighty break through of corporate power and fullness not seen since Pentecost (Rev 12:10-11). When Jesus said that “some standing here shall not taste of death till they see the kingdom come with power” (Mk 9:1), it is evident that He was not speaking of the kingdom that comes at the end of the times of the gentiles, but his reference was to a revelatory kind of seeing, such as the power that was revealed at Pentecost. This is the kind of apocalyptic in-breaking that the church can expect on the eve of the tribulation.

The wording of Rev 12:10 makes it evident that the power of the kingdom comes in some sense immediately upon Michael’s victory over Satan, suggesting something more immediate than the millennial reign that does not come until the end of the tribulation (Mt 24:29-31; 2Thes 2:8). This is evident by noting the relationship between the words ‘now’ and ‘because’. “Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ, because he who accuses our brethren has been thrown down once for all, he who accuses the before our God and night” (Wuest’s translation of NT).

Since it is clear that the Accuser is cast down in advance of the tribulation, it follows the “strength and power of Christ” spoken of in the above passage comes at the mid-point of the last week, and not only at the tribulation’s end. This would coincide with the time in Daniel when “the people that know their God shall be strong doing exploits” (11:32). So we can reasonably consider that the strength and power of Christ mentioned in this passage does not wait until the Lord’s post-tribulational return, but comes with power on the godly remnant at the middle of the week when the Accuser is cast down. This powerful apocalyptic break-through of revelation power and strength follows the pattern of Daniel’s travail and the opening of heaven over him to receive the decisive unveiling of the future of the kingdom. It is the same here.

Such transitional break-through of revelation and kingdom power may be likened to a birthing, in this instance a corporate birth, the birth of the man child in figurative analogy to the birth of Christ. The subsequent ascension of the man child speaks of an irreversible victory that secures for the seed a place ‘far above all principality and power’. For the believer, this ascent speaks of the victory of the finished work of Christ fully appropriated by an overcoming faith that is born of God (1Jn 5:4). It is the ‘full assurance of faith’ that secures the conscience of the believer out of Accuser’s reach in advance of the final test. This requires a clear apprehension and appropriation of the gospel. So with the casting down of the Accuser, the kingdom of God comes with power on the remnant that has travailed to the full inward formation of Christ, thus receiving the grace that will overcome and not fail in the last martyr witness of the church.

The tribulation church is simply the end-most expression of the apostolic church of the apocalyptic secret, which, I am careful to point out, is nothing other than the Christian gospel revealed at Pentecost, only now in final stages of tribulation fulfillment. The church of the last tribulation is not discouraged by what is coming on the world. They are in union with the exultation of heaven’s hallelujahs, because at this point, the millennial reign of Christ is just 3 ½ years away. The one that hinders has now been removed, thus setting in motion the final tribulation which brings the return of Christ (Mt 24:29-31). The heavenly event that is the catalyst for the abomination at Jerusalem will mark the time with utmost certainty. It will be clear to those of understanding that the Lord’s return is now just 3 ½ years away. Never has the time been so certainly known. We can scarce imagine the impact that these events, in the full light of revelation, will have on the godly remnant, and of the part that such prophetic clarity and decisiveness will play in the church’s final witness to Israel.

Certainly this imagery is rich with implication and application for the church of all time, but its specific timing must also not be missed for the church of the last time. What will this mean for the saints on earth during this time? The removal of Satan from heaven permits the mystery of iniquity to be revealed in the Man of Sin so that Christ can return (2Thes 2:3-8). We need to see the order. Only then, with the removal of the one that hinders, can the last tribulation come and so finish the mystery of God with Christ’s post-tribulational return (compare Rev 10:7; 11:15; with Mt 24:29-31; 1Cor 15:52; Isa 27:13).

The mystery of iniquity is nothing less than the full and unrestrained revelation of Satan in the flesh. It is the eschatological goal of the original enmity that was ‘put’ between the two seeds (Gen 3:15), and headed up in the two princes of Dan 9:25-26, both of whom fulfill a mystery of incarnation at their appointed times (2Thes 2:6). Thus we see that the mystery of iniquity (2Thes 2:7) and the mystery of godliness (1Tim 3:16) constitute a kind of dualism that exists side by side in the comprehensive ‘mystery of God’ (Rev 10:7), which is built around the mystery of Christ’s twofold appearing, all foretold in a mystery in Daniel’s famed seventy week prophecy.

The first century revelation of Messiah’s twofold advent has brought to glorious light the mystery of the two comings that was concealed in Daniel’s prophecy. According to the mystery of the atonement, the messianic Prince is ‘cut off’ (Dan 9:26 with Isa 53:8) at the end of Daniel’s 69th week. The 70th week is divided at the mid-point when the prince that exalts himself places the abomination (compare Dan 8:11-12; 9:27; 11:31-36; 12:11; Mt 24:15; 2Thes 2:4). It is the last half of Daniel’s last week that will see the finishing of Israel’s transgression and the revelation of the mystery of iniquity in the Man of Sin (‘the prince that shall come’), “whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming” (2Thes 2:8 with Isa 31:8; Dan 7:11; 8:25).

So the mysterious ‘gap’ that exists between the 69th and 70th weeks of Daniel comprehends both comings of Christ and the mystery of the incarnations of the two seeds in the two princes. Dan 9:24-27 is at the heart of the Old Testament mystery of Christ (Ro 16:25-26; Eph 6:19; 1Pet 1:11). Paul continually affirmed that his teaching and preaching was according to the revelation of this mystery that is to be known to the nations “by the prophetic writings’ (Acts 26:22 with Ro 16:26). It would be well if our preaching and teaching would be more consciously ‘according to the revelation of the mystery” that was revealed to the first century apostles and prophets, because the revelation of the mystery that brings all the pieces together into a revelation of perfect redemptive wisdom is the supreme apologetic for the vindication of the God of Israel (Rev 19:10b).

In view of the above, it should be very clear that the revelation of the ‘Man of Sin’ on earth (I think by way of spectacular revivification from the mortal wound) coincides with the time Michael casts down Satan to the earth. This heavenly event is soon answered in the abomination in the holy place at Jerusalem, which brings the final desolations of Jerusalem and the final woes on the earth. But all of this assumes that the true church, or at least a remnant of the true church has been brought to something transitional and transfiguring through the foregoing events leading up to this climactic point. How is this accomplished? We need to see that the events of the last 3 1?2 years are preceded by the events of the first 3 1?2 years. These events are likewise described with great detail and specificity (Dan 11:23-30) so that will be recognized by at least a sizeable remnant of the true church of God (Dan 11:33).

These events and the urgency that they signify will have a ‘straightening’ affect on the church. The sure and certain approach of the final tribulation will crowd the church to a place of deepest intercessory travail. Through a process of crisis urgency and transforming revelation, the church will be increasingly freed of the hindering power of self-reliance (2Cor 1:9), since this is what gives Satan power to accuse the saints. Where there is no confidence in the flesh, his power to accuse is canceled. As Israel is transformed only after they have been brought to an end of their power (compare Deut 32:36 with Dan 12:7), so must the church pass through a time of profound self-emptying before it can be raised (or birthed) to the fullness of kingdom love and power.

The veil that holds back the in-breaking of apocalyptic revelation is proportionate to the strength of the flesh. This is a profoundly important principle. This is why it is not until Israel’s power has been broken that “all these things shall be accomplished.” So is it any different with the church? What is the church but a people that have learned that grace only appears when one has come to an end of their own power? So the church that can overcome in the final test is a church that has learned that kingdom strength comes only at the end of our own strength. This is the basis by which we may confidently know that the church will be perfected in love in time for its final witness.

The Accuser will be cast down at that time by the same means that his power is broken now, namely, by the revelation of the gospel. But we must understand that there are degrees of apprehension of revealed truth, and we know that the greater the death to our own sufficiency will be the greater resurrection in the revelation of grace and glory, as the light shines brighter to the ‘perfect day’. This is why that even while the Antichrist is ‘wearing out’ the saints of the most high (Dan 7:25; Rev 13:7), they shall mount up with wings and overcome more and more as they are purged, purified, tested, and made white “even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed” (Dan 11:35; 12:10).

The power of Satan to accuse is broken when human self-sufficiency is broken. Israel’s captivity ends “when He sees that their power is gone” (Deut 32:36). So even before Israel has been brought to an end of their power by the judgments of Jacob’s trouble, the true remnant will also have come to an end of their power, not at first by great tribulation, but by great travail in response to the divine quickening of transforming revelation. So when our strength has given way to His, not only will the Accuser be ‘cast down’, but fear will be ‘cast out’, as love is made perfect through a deeper and clearer apprehension of the glorious gospel of Christ. This is why the next verse says, “and they loved not their lives unto the death!” We must not miss the conjunction between the end of Satan’s access to the consciences of the brethren to accuse, and the confidence that leads to the fearless obedience and selfless sacrifice that follows his removal by Michael (Rev 12:10-11 with Dan 11:32).

Certainly, these are principles that are inherent in the revelation of the gospel for all time, but there is clearly an eschatological maturity of love and gospel confidence that comes in greater fullness and power when Michael engages on behalf of Israel and the church at the threshold of the last 3 1?2 years. Paul implies that the church composed predominately of gentiles attains a ‘fullness’ before the time that Israel attains its own fullness (contrast Ro 11:12 with verse 25). It is my view that this ‘fullness of the gentiles’ signifies something more than mere numerical fullness, but a fullness of stature in Christ (Eph 4:13).

It is imperative that the church comes to see its indispensable role as a kind of ‘corporate Daniel’ in the great transition that ends the age. I believe the church will be brought to this by the powerful constraints and inducements of prophetic fulfillment leading up to this transitional point on the eve of the great tribulation. For the Daniel remnant, the fulfillment of the prophetic word will be in clearest certainty, and this will work a powerful constraint of urgency in those that have understanding (Dan 11:33; 12:3, 10).

The strategic relationship that exists between the preliminary events leading up to the abomination and the role of the church in Michael’s triumph over Satan is absent from most of the church’s consciousness. From the time that the league is made with the Antichrist (Dan 11:23), which Isaiah calls a ‘covenant with death and hell’ (28:15, 18), every day that passes will bring nearer the now certain imminence of the great tribulation.

This will press upon the believing church a great urgency to lay hold of Christ’s strength in view of what is known to be at hand. Just as Daniel was aware that the ‘set time’ of Jeremiah’s seventy years had nearly expired when he ‘set his heart to understand’, so will the true remnant of the church recognize that the last crisis is at hand, and like Daniel, will enter a time of corporate urgency of prayer and spiritual preparation for the final test. The church’s participation in the travail of the heavenly Zion will accomplish a powerful break-through of corporate fullness and perfection of faith and love unto final sacrifice (compare Dan 11:32-33 with Rev 12:10-11). The figurative imagery of Rev 12 compares the church’s victory over Satan to the birth and ascension of the woman’s seed.

Notice in Rev 12:10 that the word ‘now’ marks a critical point of transition. The jubilant declaration that “now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ,” is not tied to Christ’s return at the end of the tribulation, but to the casting down of Satan at its start. This pre-tribulational clearing of the heavens opens the way for the revelation of the man of sin, and the start of the last tribulation which must precede the Day of the Lord (2Thes 2:3-4).

According to Dan 12:1 the unequaled tribulation begins when Michael ‘stands up’. It is the same in Revelation (12:7, 12). That a past event cannot be in view is shown by the fact that the unequaled tribulation ends with Israel’s restoration and the resurrection of the dead (Dan 12:1-2). Furthermore, Rev 12:7-17 shows that the final tribulation begins with Satan’s forced removal; it is evident that he is still in some sense lodged in heaven until that time. This is the inviolable order. Only with Satan’s removal by Michael can the Day of the Lord come (2Thes 2:3-4).

At first hearing, it may seem incredible that Satan would not be doing all in his power to bring forth his man. It is just the opposite! It is well to remember what the revelation of the mystery of iniquity will mean for Satan. It will mean that his time is short (Rev 12:12). Contrary to popular opinion, Satan is in no hurry to bring forth his man, because Satan’s final exposure in the revelation of “that Wicked” (2Thes 2:8) signals the end of his kingdom (Rev 20:2). This is not to say that Satan is holding back evil. On the contrary, he is ‘the one that hinders’ (2Thes 2:7). He hinders the saints by accusing them before God day and night. He hindered Paul (Ro 1:13; 1Thes 2:18). One of his chief princes hindered the messenger of revelation sent in answer to Daniel’s prayer (10:13). He hinders the coming in of the kingdom of God (Rev 12:7-10). It is not that Satan is holding back Satan, but rather the revelation and full exposure of Satan in the flesh, which signals the end of his tenure and heaven and seals his doom. Therefore, if this is what is holding back the Day of the Lord, then it follows that this is an event that Satan is devoted to resist with all his might.

Satan yet resides in the heavenly sphere where he occupies a position of rule among the fallen principalities and powers. He continually accuses the consciences of the brethren and resists the time that he will be forced down to earth, which will mean his final exposure and defeat. The tribulation starts when Satan is no longer able to hold back the revelation of the mystery (2Thes 2:7), which holds back the Day of the Lord (2:3, 6). When the woman’s travail is complete, Michael prevails to dislodge Satan from the place of obscurity and hindrance. His eviction by Michael forces the revelation / exposure of the mystery of iniquity in the Man of Sin which starts the tribulation with his appearance in the holy place at Jerusalem (Dan 11:31-36; 12:11; Mt 24:15; 2Thes 2:4). With the removal of the one that hinders, the mystery is revealed that is holding back the day of the Lord (2Thes 2:3-8). The Day of the Lord is the point of Antichrist’s destruction at Christ’s glorious appearing and kingdom (Mt 24:29; 2Thes 2:8). The evidence is too great to ignore. The correlation of events is clear. No other explanation so well accounts for the manifest conjunction of events. This is light for the remnant of whom it will be required to face the final test. It is cause to enter into a unity of corporate prayer for the decisive events that perfect the church and conclude the age.

Notice that Michael’s expulsion of Satan follows the pattern established in the book of Daniel. Certainly this is an instructive paradigm for prayer and spiritual warfare for all time, but the reference is clearly to a specific event that starts the final great tribulation (Dan 12:1; Rev 12:7, 12). Just as Michael was sent in answer to Daniel’s prayer to remove the hindering Prince of Persia, the church can rely on the same gracious divine intervention when it too, will be brought to a place of ultimate corporate travail and prevailing prayer.

The end time church will know what it means to ‘stand in the gap’ (Dan 9:2-21; Ezek 22:30) in priestly intercession for Israel in a proxy of travail, as when Paul said, “For whom I travail in birth until Christ is formed in you” (Gal 4:19). The church and Israel are destined to meet in the wilderness. Both will be in flight from a common enemy. By this time, the true church will know what is coming, but Israel together with most of Christendom will not. “For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape” (1Thes 5:3). The plumb-line of the prophetic scriptures will constitute a widening watershed of division that will ultimately expose the church of the great apostasy (foolish virgins?).

So we see that apocalyptic vision of Daniel not only predicts the final defeat of Satan, but becomes the means by which it is accomplished. By revelation and travail the church is brought to its eschatological fullness in order that Israel’s predestined fullness can follow in due course. This helps to explain why the book of Daniel has been the favorite object of attack by the so-called ‘higher criticism’ of academic scholarship. The late Sir Robert Anderson and the contemporary Josh McDowell have both written books with the title “Daniel in the Critics Den.” All of this is to say that unless one is a complete naturalist, it should be evident that Satan is most particularly threatened by the revelation of Daniel.

With the possible exception of Gen 1-11, the only other portion of scripture that has been the special target of the ‘destructive criticism’ of modern scholarship is the Lord’s Olivet prophecy (Mt 24, Mk 13, Lk 21). Significantly, Jesus’ prophetic discourse is based chiefly on Daniel, as He directs His listeners to Daniel with the instruction “whoever reads, let him ‘understand'” (Mt 24:15). [Note that the word ‘understand’ appears frequently throughout Daniel. The Hebrew is “Maskilim” and refers to those that have insight, particularly as it pertains to Daniel’s revelation.] I personally believe that the one that came to reveal to Daniel what “shall befall your people in the latter days” according to “that which is noted in the scripture of truth” is the same one that stood with His disciples on Mt. Olivet when He gave His church the key of Daniel.

May God awaken us to emulate Daniel and take up his burden for the covenant and the end of exile for both church and Israel. He was a man of ‘an excellent spirit’, full of wisdom and prophetic understanding, a true priestly intercessor in perfect identification and brokenness for his people’s tragic condition. He embodied the wisdom of the cross as a true witness to the God of Israel in the midst of the world’s power structures.

Finally, it is important that we mark the inseparable relationship that exists between intercessory prayer, prophetic revelation, and the set times of God in the church’s final victory over Satan. These are indispensable factors and dynamics that work towards the eviction of Satan in order that the kingdom can come in the only way that it was ordained to come, i.e., “through much tribulation” (Acts 14:22). So whether the church realizes it or not, to pray, “Thy kingdom come,” is a costly prayer indeed.

Yours in the Beloved, Reggie

P.S. I’d like to encourage that the friends that plan to attend our table talks in Vermont, NY, and North Bay spend some time in portions of scripture that deal especially with the Antichrist and the tribulation. I would suggest reading through Daniel as paradigmatic of the church of the last days. Also Rev chapters 11-13, 16-17, Mt 24 and 2Thes 2, Isa 24-28; Ezek 38-39; Zech 12-14 especially. Be on the look out for corroborating passages throughout the OT in general, where these themes are particularly referenced. Those scriptures will also be helpful to have on hand, since the apocalyptic portions are basically a summing up of the great themes of covenant promise and judgment that appear all throughout the OT, particularly in the prophets.

CHAPTERS 10-11

(1hr:27min)
 
Right Click to Download The Abomination that causes Desolation – Dan Ch 10-11 (40mb)
 
CHAPTERS 11-12

(1hr:38min)
 
Right Click to Download The Abomination that causes Desolation – Dan Ch 10-11 (45mb)
 
It took us two sessions to cover Daniel Chapters 10 through 12. This fifth and final vision of the prophet Daniel is of a “certain man” whose description bears an amazing resemblance to John’s vision of one “like the son of man”, who is the Alpha and Omega, Him who has the keys of hell and of death. In these chapters this “certain man” talks to Daniel in detail about things which are to come.

Video of this messages is also available. See Course below

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Right Click to Download The Seventy Sevens of Daniel – Dan Ch 9 (68mb)
 
POSTSCRIPT

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Right Click to Download The Seventy Sevens of Daniel – Dan Ch 9 PostScript (9mb)
 
In Chapter 9, Daniel realizes that the 70 years of exile is almost over, so he cries out to God for mercy for himself and his people. In response he has a vision of the the angel Gabriel who begins to explain God’s timetable for delivering Israel. Reggie Kelly and Phil Norcom lead us through the five visions of Daniel with emphasis on what they mean for Israel and the Church (The Mystery of Israel).

Video of this messages is also available. See Course below

(2hr:6min)
 

Right Click to Download The Ram and the Goat – Dan Ch 8 (58mb)

Daniel’s vision here in Chapter 8 and provides additional detail to the Nebuchadnezzar’s vision in Chapter 2 and the four beasts of Chapter 7. They all point to a climax that will occur in “the last days.” Reggie Kelly and Phil Norcom lead us through the five visions of Daniel with emphasis on what they mean for Israel and the Church (The Mystery of Israel).

Video of this messages is also available. See Course below

(1hr:15min)
 

Right Click to Download Four Beasts Rise from the Sea – Dan Ch 7 (35mb)

Daniel’s vision of the four beasts is the second vision in the book of Daniel (Chapter 7) and provides additional detail to the first vision in Chapter 2. They all point to a climax that will occur in “the last days.” Reggie Kelly and Phil Norcom lead us through the five visions of Daniel with emphasis on what they mean for Israel and the Church (The Mystery of Israel).

Video of this messages is also available. See Course below

(1hr:15min)
 

Right Click to Download The King’s Dream – Dan Ch 2 (37mb)

The vision of Nebuchadnezzar is the first vision in the book of Daniel (Daniel Chapter 2) and provides a foundation for the four visions that follow. They all point to a climax that will occur in “the last days.” Reggie Kelly and Phil Norcom lead us through the five visions of Daniel with emphasis on what they mean for Israel and the Church (The Mystery of Israel).

Video of this messages is also available. See Course below

“Just aware of the wording of this verse. (Dan 9:27) The huge difference between ‘confirming’ an agreement and ‘making’ an agreement. It seems to leave an opening for deception. The covenant could be made and the anti-Christ could have absolutely nothing to do with it, and then after an unspecified time, he could come in and ‘sign on’ to an already existing covenant. But would it not be very unusual to come in to a covenant and confirm it, but with a time limit of 7 years?

Your very good question brought some things to mind on Dan 9:27 that I’ve not really covered before. You are right; that difference could be huge. I fully expect the confirming of what is already existing and not the creation of something new. I believe our best clue as to which covenant is in view is to consult Daniel’s continued vision in Dan 11. There the covenant is called “the holy covenant” (Dan 11:28, 30). This is the covenant that the AC [Anti-Christ] hates and assaults in the middle of the week (Dan 11:31; 12:11). Significantly, his assault on the covenant is with a flood (Dan 11:22) just as it is in Dan 9:26. Why then, would this not be the covenant that is broken in the middle of the week in Dan 9:27? I think the evidence is nearly conclusive that it is.

Now consider, today the great sticking point is Jerusalem, but perhaps more than anything, the recognition of Israel’s right to exist. Well, the holy covenant was all about God’s gift of the Land to the physical descendants of Abraham. What if one or more of the nations currently opposed to Israel come to find themselves in a position where it is better strategy to “confirm” Israel’s right to dwell in the Land than continue to oppose it, while at the very same time hating their presence there and looking for the first opportunity to recapture Jerusalem? That’s exactly where we are, and though now, it may seem remote, that’s where I see things headed.

In such case, the covenant would NOT be considered holy by either the Antichrist, or the other nations that participate (he confirms it with many). To them, it is only a league (Dan 11:23), a peace arrangement (Dan 8:25), but from the standpoint of history and prophecy the presence of the Jewish people in the Land is part of the “holy covenant” that God made with the fathers. The restoration on the holy hill of the sanctuary and daily sacrifice is part of that “holy covenant.” Jewish right to Jerusalem is at the heart of what God promised. These institutions are set apart and holy in themselves, because of God’s name and decree, despite the personal unholiness of the nation that is about to go into its most terrible time of covenant discipline, the time of Jacob’s trouble.

As to the time limitation of the 7 years. That may be something for the believer in prophecy to know in order to discern the time, or it may take the form of a provisional arrangement that is agreed to be tested for 7 years before revision and finalization. That’s possible, just as Henry Kissinger used to suggest 5 and 10 year interims of provisional arrangements as a kind of test run before possible revision and finalization.

But back to the question of what kind of covenant will be “confirmed” rather than newly framed. The word of the oath is that the Land would belong to Abraham’s physical descendants forever. On that side the covenant is holy. To recognize Israel’s right to the Land, particularly Jerusalem, would indeed be to confirm something that is holy (in that sense). Paradoxically, at the very same time, God calls the “league” with Antichrist a covenant with death and hell (Isa 28:15, 18), the exact opposite of holy. This is because Israel is trusting in man to secure the peace. Of course, this is what all the prophets continually warned against. It’s the “reed of Egypt” that pierces through the hand when it is leaned upon. Israel is leaning upon themselves, and that’s why they will lean upon the Antichrist.

This brings the question, on what are we leaning? Has the church done less to mix the holy with the profane? Israel’s deal with the Devil is nothing more in essence than what continually happens when through fear and unbelief those set apart to be holy put their trust in man and ways and wisdom of the world. It always brings the discipline of desolation, particularly when man inserts himself into the place reserved for God alone. There is always a spiritual essence that is being embodied in these outward events, that to miss is to miss the point.

Well, one thought leads to another. Good to touch base with you. His blessing be upon your family, Reggie

With nearly exactly the same language that Jeremiah uses to describe the time of unequaled trouble that ends in Israel’s salvation (Jer 30:7), Daniel speaks of the same time of unequaled trouble in connection with the resurrection (Dan 12:1-2, 13). Hence, Daniel has given us the decisive interpretation of the time of Jacob’s trouble. It is the unequaled tribulation that occurs just before the dead are raised. It begins with the removal of a sacrifice (Dan 9:27; 12:11) and ends with Messiah’s return to destroy the self exalting prince, whom Paul will name, ‘the Man of Sin” (Dan 11:36-37 with 2Thes 2:4).

There can be no mistake. The connection of things is clear. Daniel applies Isaiah’s, Micah’s, and Jeremiah’s description of an age ending ‘travail of Zion’ to the last half of the seventieth seven (Dan 7:25; 9:27; 12: 7, 11). Regardless of whether the tribulation is interpreted as symbolic or literal, its duration is represented as brief, ending in the deliverance and resurrection of Israel (Isa 25:7-9; 26:16-21; Dan 12:1; Hos 5:15; 6:1-2; Eze 37:12-14; 39:8, 22, 28-29). If scripture is diligently compared with scripture, the result, at least the basic result, is plain for all to see.

What could be plainer than the simple observance that the time unequaled trouble ends with the resurrection? Jesus uses the same language of Daniel, almost verbatim, to speak of the unprecedented tribulation that must precede His return (Dan 12:1 with Mt 24:21-22, 29). The sign that marks the beginning of the tribulation is “the abomination of desolation which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet” (Mt 24:15). Significantly, Jesus Himself (not an editorial remark by Matthew) instructs His disciples to read of this sign in Daniel’s prophecy and to take care that they understand it. Clearly, this desolating sacrilege can happen in only one place, namely, the ‘holy place’ in Jerusalem. (Dan 11:31; 12:11; Mt 24:15-16; 2Thes 2:4).

In Daniel, the great tribulation ends with the resurrection. In Matthew’s account of Jesus’s Olivet prophecy, it ends with the Lord’s return in clouds of glory (Mt 24:29; Rev 1:7). In Paul’s little apocalypse, the day of the Lord comes only AFTER the self-exalting ‘man of sin’ (of Daniel’s vision) is revealed by his entrance into the temple of God (Dan 11:36-37 with 2Thes 2:3-4). The Thessalonian believers of 51 A.D. needed no further explanation to understand that Paul’s reference to the “temple of God” could only mean the ‘holy place’ in Jerusalem where Jesus had so plainly located the event that starts the tribulation. Jesus describes the event. Paul describes the man. Both are clearly referring to Daniel’s account of the act and the man who performs it. The believer who will obey the Lord’s directive to refer to Daniel’s prophecy will see the connection and the general outline of events that lead up to and follow upon the abomination of desolation.

(Note: Since the final destruction of Jerusalem in 132 A.D., interpreters began to look for ways to spiritualize Paul’s reference to the temple of God in order to conceive of a return of Christ that would not require the restoration of a Jewish Jerusalem with temple and sacrifice, but we have come full circle, and against all odds, all but a few remaining parts are in now place for the plain meaning of scripture to take place in all of its literal detail.)

Who can fairly deny that the last 3 1/2 years (the second half) of Daniel’s final week is bounded by the violation of the holy place by the self exalting prince (Dan 8:11; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11; 2Thes 2:4) at its beginning, and the deliverance of Daniel’s people and the resurrection of the saints at its end? What could be plainer than that? Moreover, Daniel’s mention of the standing up of Michael in Dan 12 is very significantly repeated in Rev 12. In both places, we have the last great persecution of the saints during the time of unequaled woe for the earth dwellers. Clearly, Satan’s “short time” begins when he is dejected from heaven by Michael (Dan 12:1; Rev 12:7-14) and this is the last 3 1/2 years, the second half of Daniel’s last seventieth seven (Rev 11:2-3; 12:6, 14; 13:5 with Dan 7:25; 9:27; 12:7).

It could hardly be plainer that the unequaled tribulation that is set in motion in both Dan 12 and Rev 12 with the standing up of Michael. This begins Satan’s ‘short time’ (Rev 12:12), which will mean unprecedented woe for the earth dwellers and persecution of the woman (Israel and the saints). Clearly, this is the 3 1/2 years of unequaled tribulation that begins with the removal of the daily sacrifice and the placing of the abomination (Dan 11:31; 12:1, 7, 11; Mt 24:15, 21) and ends with Christ’s return and the resurrection of the dead (Dan 12:2, Mt 24:29, 31). If these specific events are not held in inseparable relation to one another, then we are deprived of the protection from deception that Jesus invested in the definite details of His prophecy (Mt 24:25; Mk 13:23).

As to the much debated severity of the period, what is not to understand about the word, “unequaled?” It is a time like no other, without precedent or repeat. Of course, this is not to be understood strictly in terms of Jewish suffering, since all of nature will be in magnificent turmoil. What is clear is that the unequaled tribulation starts in Jerusalem and that the Antichrist will especially target Jews wherever he can find them. What’s not to understand about a 3 1/2 year flight into the wilderness from the face of an Antichrist? What kind of captivity is in view when the Antichrist is able to employ an implacable Islam hatred that will tread down Jerusalem for a continual period of 42 months? And will such an invading flood of hate filled Muslims be confined to the city of Jerusalem? Miraculous protection of a remnant within the city (probably under the supernatural protection of the two witnesses) does not too much extenuate the terrible implications for the greater population of Israel, particularly since the preservation of the remnant will depend in no small part on the wakefulness of believers to know the time and conduct many to prepared places of refuge according to the plainness of the scripture on this matter.

The best way to show that no past precedent or partial fulfillment could have been the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s, Daniel’s and Jesus’s words about the time like no other is to show that it ends in nothing short of the resurrection of the righteous (Isa 25:8; 26:19; Dan 12:1-2, 13; Mt 24:31; 2Thes 2:1). The eschatology of the OT is the eschatology of the covenant; and Jacob’s trouble, or the “great tribulation,” is simply the last phase of the ‘discipline of the covenant’ before the great transition that the orthodox have always referred to as “the Redemption.”

To conceive of the modern return as superseded by another shattering loss of nation and temple seems unthinkable in view of all the prophets said concerning the return to the Land, a modern miracle of truly ‘biblical proportions’. What is often overlooked is that the prophets saw both a long exile and a brief episode of unequalled affliction just before the end. Failure to recognize this necessary distinction has led some to dismiss the thought of a future dispersion under the reign of Antichrist. The prophets did not always distinguish clearly between these two distinct episodes of Jewish dispersion and return, but their prophecies, duly compared and considered, demand it.

The prophets recognized that not all Jews would return to the Land until after the tribulation. The far greater aliyah from the countries of sojourn awaits the end of Zion’s travail with the Lord’s return. Eze 38 & 39 is very good to distinguish between the two stages of Jewish return, one that is partial and before the battle of God and Magog (Eze 38:8), and one that is complete and to the last person at the war’s end (Eze 39:22, 28-29). The apocalyptic vision a yet further exile of brief duration is distinguished by noting the stages of return. First there is the return from the “desolations of many generations” (Isa 61:4; Eze 38:8). Then follows the final desolation of a restored city and sanctuary.

In addition to the very clear reference in Rev 12, a number of other scriptures show a flight into the wilderness where God has determined to meet with Israel face to face in a final pleading of judgement and mercy. There are references in the OT (I’d have to find them) that not only speak of a future trek through the wilderness, but of the very specific lands on the other side of the Jordan where Jews will flee and seek refuge. Among them are some of the same territory that the first Israelites under Moses traversed on their way to the Land. One specific name for this territory is “the wilderness of the peoples.”

Whereas there will be significant survival in Jerusalem itself (Zech 14:2), scripture is equally clear that survival will depend on urgent flight to prepared places of refuge and hiding, as the far greater part of the population will be trapped by the unexpected invasion of Antichrist. Certainly some will be able to be miraculously shielded from the wrath of the Antichrist inside even the city itself (the two witnesses?), but it is only reasonable, in view of the Lord’s clear warning, that the greater prospect of survival will be outside the Land, as inferred also from such passages as Isa 11:12; 27:12-13; also compare Dan 11:41 with Isa 16:3-4; 26:20; 42:11 (Masoretic text).

In any event, scripture is clear that Jews will be returning from the very desert places that their fathers travelled through on their way to the Land. Scripture is very specific of the trek back home through that particular wilderness, which is today a barren wasteland. Why through that region? It is because Jews have fled from the face of the Antichrist and will return with His destruction in the day when the great trumpet of Jubilee is blown (Isa 27:13 with Mt 24:31). This assumes, of course, that we take the prophecies of a second exodus with all the literalness of the first, and not as most scholars who see these prophecies as merely metaphorical of the spiritual restoration of the gospel.

It is moot question whether a future time of affliction and wilderness flight should be called another captivity or dispersion. Scripture is clear that Jerusalem will be a desolation and that the cities of Israel will be restored after a great and final devastation. We must not quibble over words or the question of the severity of this sure and certain siege of the Land and the world wide persecution of the Antichrist. Our concern is that many will be caught off guard with no realistic expectation. It is enough if a tribulation of flight and world wide persecution beginning in Jerusalem is soberly acknowledged.

But what does flight into the wilderness mean? What does the treading down of the city for 42 months of terrific desolation imply? It is interesting that modern scholars such as N.T. Wright have only echoed in recent days the view of the rabbis that have long held that Jewish presence in the Land should not be understood as the end of the exile. In their view, the exile has not ended until an all righteous nation can finally and forever, “lie down safely and none make them afraid.” This is how prophets understood the end of the exile. Israel remains in covenant jeopardy until the coming in of the ‘everlasting righteousness’ of the ‘everlasting covenant’ (Jer 32:40; Dan 9:24). This explains why Jeremiah would see the return from Babylon as coming clearly short of the promise, requiring a further time of unequaled trouble. It is why Daniel shows that the ultimate deliverance of his people would await a further seventy sevens. Quite clearly, Daniel puts the final trouble seen by Jeremiah, and the travail seen by Isaiah and Micah, at the very end of seventy sevens, the last half of the last seven to be exact.

The fuller data of all that scripture reveals concerning exile and return will confirm this distinction between the long exile of many years and a short time of unequaled desolation and dispersion that occupies the time immediately preceding deliverance of Israel. It is the tendency to confuse these distinct phases of the exile that has created the illusion that the present return will never be superseded by another disruption of national continuity, a dangerously misleading and disarming conclusion that those living in the Land can least afford! Failure to make this distinction has been a principal source of much passionate defense of Israel’s future security.

How can anyone read the covenant of Lev 26 and Deut 28-32 and suppose that peace in the Land can long endure independently of the obedience of faith? Regardless of our love for Israel, the natural branches are under the curse of the law until they are “in Christ!” It is an axiom of the covenant that “Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high … desolations are determined” (Isa 32:15; Dan 9:26). Regardless of how many survive in or out of the Land during the great tribulation, what is not to understand about 42 months of desolation for Jerusalem, flight into the wilderness, and unequaled tribulation?

I believe it was the revelation that the return from exile would be superseded by another time of unprecedented trouble that so astonished Jeremiah. This was a great anomaly to behold, as it contradicted all that would have been expected from the glorious prophecies of return found all throughout Isaiah and the earlier prophets. However, even there, Isaiah and the earlier prophets uniformly spoke of an ultimate time of travail in the Land that would precede the birth of the nation and transition into the kingdom of God on earth with a final, and now complete, return from the Diaspora.

I am suggesting that Jeremiah himself was astonished by this very disjuncture between the longer exile and the short time of unequaled travail on the eve of the nation’s final deliverance. The tribulation was seen as the last stage of the discipline of the covenant (Deut 4:30; 32:36; Dan 12:7). It is likely that Jeremiah would have naturally conceived that the return would bring in the everlasting righteousness of covenant promise with its guarantee of abiding permanence in the Land. Instead of the hoped for golden age of everlasting peace and righteousness, he sees instead every man’s hands on his loins and all faces turned to paleness, words remarkably similar to Isaiah’s description of the great day of the Lord in Isa 13.

Daniel follows Jeremiah’s vision with his own revelation that the ultimate deliverance of his people would be delayed until the end of an additional seventy sevens. Note too that Zechariah sees the Day of the Lord as coming upon a people who have already returned to the Land. This day of ultimate judgment and deliverance is preceded by a capture of Jerusalem that results in a further captivity of many of the city’s inhabitants (Zech 14:2). There is no evidence that the prophets were able to distinguish the further, much longer exile that has followed the Roman destruction, but they did see that the Redemption would not come until the final chastisement of the Antichrist (Isa 10:27; 14:25; Jer 30:8, 14). After the destruction of the Antichrist at the day of the Lord, the penitent survivors of Israel would then return from every country. Much to be distinguished from any earlier return, this will leave none behind (Eze 39:28). Contrary to replacement arguments that would limit the return prophecies to the return from Babylon, it is of great significance that the post-exilic prophet Zechariah continued to prophesy of this further, post-day of the Lord return (Zech 8:7-8, 23; 10:8-10). This is the plain order of events that is crucial for all those who wait for the consolation of Israel to understand.

Whether we call this short time of wilderness flight a further captivity, expulsion, or dispersion from the Land makes little difference. A disaster of unthinkable proportions is destined for the city of Jerusalem and the Jewish people as far as the long arm of the Antichrist may reach. That much is sure; and our readiness and response to the clarity of scripture on this question will be a matter of great personal accountability, most particularly where the leadership of the church in the Land is concerned.

This brings the final question of how far the events of 70 A.D fulfilled, even partially, the demands of the context of Mt 24:15-31, since some have suggested that the worst of the great tribulation may be behind us, leaving only some kind of lesser tribulation to precede the Lord’s return. Will the Olivet prophecy bear this kind of division? Is the tribulation to be realized in different installments, the greatest and most terrific in 70 A.D. and another crisis of lesser intensity in the days just preceding Messiah’s return? Again, Dan 12:1-2 is the decisive turn key of interpretation on this question.

If the abomination of desolation and the removal of the regular sacrifice marks the beginning of the last half of Daniel’s seventieth week (Dan 12:11; Mt 24:15-16, 21, 29, 31), and if the standing up of Michael in both Dan 12 and Rev 12 marks the last 3 1/2 years before the resurrection and the kingdom, then one must either spiritualize, not only the Lord’s post-tribulational return in Mt 24:29, but also Daniel’s post-tribulational resurrection in Dan 12:2, 13. Else, the whole must be acknowledged as future. The very important connecting phrase, “THOSE DAYS,” in Mt 24:19, 22, 29 simply will NOT permit the dividing up of the Olivet prophecy, distributing its parts, rather vaguely between the events of 70 A.D. and the eschatological future. This will NOT work without great violence to the clear meaning of the text! No, wherever one sees the beginning of the tribulation of THOSE DAYS,” there is no break in the unequaled severity of THOSE DAYS until the Lord returns in clouds of glory “immediately AFTER the tribulation of THOSE DAYS” (Mt 24:29; Rev 1:7). What could be plainer?

This is precisely what drives the school of interpretation that call themselves, “consistence preterism,” to postulate a past resurrection of Daniel and the saints at the end of the 70 A.D. destruction of Jerusalem. This should tell us what extremes one is compelled to go to avoid the clear connection of these events. Such is the cost of “consistency.”

We would very much like to accommodate the appeals that we show a more modest reserve in our opinions. To earn for ourselves the stigma of dogmatism is constructive of nothing. However, to suggest that scripture is not clear at this point would be to undermine the very words that Jesus gave to save many alive and to deliver His sheep from the unequaled deception of those days (Mt 24:15-16, 21 with Mk 13:23). No, the scripture is very clear. No special aptitude for interpretation is required, just that disposition of spirit that was in Daniel when he ‘set his heart to understand,’ as Jesus instructs us in Mt 24:15. It is a plainness of clear meaning that will make many, particularly those in authority, greatly accountable before the Lord for their measure of care and their unwillingness to consider hard things.

We are not to suppose that because the Lord’s Olivet prophecy proved serviceable and applicable to those believers of first century Judea who would flee to Pella that it will be any less vital to those who will escape being trapped by the Antichrist. Not only this, but the Lord’s instruction to read of this event in Daniel’s prophecy with understanding would prove to be the key that opens, not only Daniel, but all the prophets for the preparation of the end time remnant and the finishing of the mystery that brings the kingdom (2Thes 2:7; Rev 10:7; 11:15). This, however, will not be local and confined to Jerusalem, as in the first century, but world-wide.

For the last two centuries of premillennial scholarship, it has been considered a ‘given’ of prophecy that a restored Israel would suffer a final 42 months of domination by the Antichrist. There would be a momentary loss of nationhood as the invading forces of the Antichrist would over-run the city of Jerusalem and desecrate the ‘recently’ restored holy places (Isa 63:18; 64:10-11). Jacob’s trouble was seen to be the unequaled tribulation of affliction and travail that would be the prelude the Day of the Lord deliverance of Israel (Paul’s ‘natural branches’). It is only in recent decades that this axiom of the premillennial faith has been mixed with various shades of preterism, such as to call two centuries of premillennial scholarship into question. I ask you; who’s being novel here? The really novel view, at least for premillennial scholarship, is that Jacob’s trouble is past with the events of antiquity, or more recently with the Holocuast of WWII Europe.

This means that Jacob’s trouble has passed into history with only a return that continues to expose Israel to the vengeance of her enemies round about. No, Jacob’s trouble, as Jeremiah uses the term, cannot end with anything short of Israel’s salvation and the promised righteousness that will preserve them in the Land forever, because of the messianic (“everlasting”) righteousness (Jer 23:5-6; 32:40; Dan 9:24). Sadly, the view that the time of Jacob’s trouble is already past has found appeal (at least until very recently) among many of the church in the Land. It is a view they can least of all afford. Because it is so comparatively new among premillennial writers, this is hard to explain on strictly academic grounds. We must be frank in saying that we believe it is a blindness that is supernatural, as it threatens to disarm those living in the Land of vital, life saving insight that is crucial to their perspective and readiness. In the words of a famous Jewish poet, “it’s time to stop talking softly now; the hour’s getting late.”

There are some things that are clearly happening at the same time there, such as the mourning of the tribes, really many things that just don’t add up to the kind of military-like resurgence that they see in those few passages. This is a nation that has just been spiritually raised from the dead, and any fighting will be done by God without the use of carnal weapons (‘Spirit of His mouth” etc.). If there’s anywhere I see some “over-literalization” to the point of the ridiculous, it’s there. What do you think?

With affection and much appreciation, Reggie

There wasn’t anything allegorical about the recent events in Israel. These are concrete reality out-workings of the eschatology of the covenant appearing before our eyes. – “Doc”

So true. It’s the age ending conclusion to the quarrel that began in Abraham’s tents. Ezekiel calls it “the everlasting hatred” (Eze 35:5; compare also Eze 35-36 with Obadiah and Ps 83). It is the ancient envy and hatred of Jacob’s election that the Antichrist will be able to exploit to full advantage. Esau’s fury against Jacob is a preview of the rage that the Antichrist will have against what the scripture calls ‘the holy covenant’ (Dan 11:28, 30).

What is little conceived or considered is that the ‘covenant’ that the Antichrist confirms with many for one week (Dan 9:27) is something more than another peace agreement. It is that; but it is more. In what follows, I hope to show that it is an agreement, not only between the Antichrist and Israel (Dan 11:23), but very probably among many nations that will formally recognize, not only Israel’s right to exist as a nation, but also Jewish right of access to the forbidden temple mount.

Currently, the “noble sanctuary” is off limits to Jews. To presume to set foot on the ground held sacred by the Muslim world is, to use their words, to “open hell.” That’s got to change. What will be sufficient to change such adamant and rabid Muslim intransigence on the Jerusalem question, and the even more exasperating question of the temple mount? I’m thinking nothing less than a regional war on a much larger scale than we’re seeing now, though, of course, it only takes a spark to set the world on fire.

Before Jacob’s trouble can begin, there must be a restored sacrifice on the forbidden temple mount in order to fulfill the prophecy that says it will be stopped just 3 1/2 years before the end (Dan 9:27; 12:11). A comparison of the following scriptures will show that the daily sacrifice is taken away at the same time the abomination of desolation is placed in the holy place at Jerusalem (Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11).

Note that both Dan 9:27 and Dan 12:11 are especially clear in showing that the daily sacrifice is removed 3 1/2 years before the end. Some commentators, however, see the reference to the “end” in Dan 9:26-27 as limited to the 70 A.D. destruction of Jerusalem. However, in nearly every other reference throughout the book of Daniel, the point of reference for the term, ‘the end,’ is the end of the unequaled tribulation, the destruction of Antichrist, the resurrection, and the saints’ possession of the kingdom (Dan 7:25-26; 8:17, 19; 11:27, 35, 40; 12:2, 4, 6-9, 13). It is common in prophecy for the near type to overlap with the far antitype of the eschatological future. In this view, the 70 A.D. destruction is not the ‘end’ but a type of a yet future desolation of the city that begins with the desolating sacrilege (Dan 12:11 with Mt 24:15; Rev 11:2) and ends in the return of Christ and the resurrection (Dan 12:1 with Mt 24:29).

Rather than connecting the half week of Dan 9:27 with the 3 1/2 years of Dan 12:11, many commentators believe that it is ‘the anointed (Messiah) prince’ who stops the sacrifice in Dan 9:27 while it is the Romans who stop it in Dan 12:11. The second half of the seventieth seven in Dan 9:27 is not considered to be the 3 1/2 years of Dan 12:11. The 3 1/2 years that follow upon the stopping of the sacrifice in Dan 9:27 is thought to be an entirely different event and time from the 3 1/2 years that follow upon the stopping of the sacrifice in Dan 12:11.

In this view, the first half of the week is reckoned from the beginning of Jesus ministry with His baptism of John. Since it is reasonably well determined that Jesus’s ministry lasted 3 1/2 years, the stopping of the sacrifice “in the middle of week” is taken to mean that the atoning death of Jesus rendered the temple sacrifice forever obsolete. The second half of the week is believed to follow the first half in unbroken succession, expiring at some undesignated point 3 1/2 years later in the earliest years of the fledgling church. Some suggest the death of Stephen or the conversion of Paul. In this view, the Roman general Titus is seen as the “coming prince” that destroys the city and the sanctuary (Dan 9:26), but the desolator is believed to be the risen Lord, since the text makes clear that the one who confirms the covenant and puts an end to the sacrifice is also the desolator.

Most conservative scholars are agreed that Daniel’s seventieth week, like the former 69 sevens, is rightly understood as seven literal years, divided into two halves of 3 1/2 years each (Dan 9:24-27). However, when it comes to the interpretation of Dan 12:11, there is a great parting of the ways. In an effort to distinguish the second half of Dan 9:27 from the 3 1/2 years of Dan 12:11, many fanciful and contradictory theories have been offered.

When texts of such similar language and evident meaning can be interpreted so differently, we are made to wonder why. Why aren’t interpreters able to see the plain use that Jesus (Mt 24:15, 21), Paul (2Thes 2:4), and John (Rev 11:2-3; 12:6, 14; 13:5) make of Daniel’s prophecy? We believe it is because the evidence points in a direction that is incompatible with prior theological commitments.

For example, if it is accepted that Dan 12:11 is associated with a final 3 1/2 year persecution of the Antichrist, it would mean that Jesus’s reference to the abomination of desolation (Mt 24:15) is future. For many interpreters this is unthinkable, because a future Antichrist that is bent on the destruction of the Jewish people calls into question many strongly held assumptions that are not easily surrendered. A future Antichrist that will rise amidst an age ending crisis over the city of Jerusalem points to a still outstanding covenant election and millennial destiny of those whom Paul calls, ‘the natural branches’ (Ro 11:21, 24-29).

According to the eschatology of the day of the Lord, as conceived and depicted by the Hebrew prophets, this time of unequaled tribulation was seen as the last stage in the discipline of the covenant that ends in a transformational moment of revelation and regeneration of the surviving remnant (Isa 26:16-17; 66:8; Mic 5:3-4; Jer 30:6-7; Dn 12:1; Zech 12:10; 13:1). Never is Israel left to endless exile and the curse of the conditional covenant (Lev 26; Deut 28-32). Rather, in a transformational moment of revelation and repentance, ‘at the end of their power’ (Deut 32:36; Dan 12:7), Israel is brought into the “everlasting righteousness” of the “everlasting covenant” (Isa 45:17; 59:21; Jer 32:40; Dan 9:24). This deliverance is everywhere shown to come at the great transition called the day of the Lord. Jews rightly understood this to be the time of the resurrection of the ‘last day,’ which Daniel manifestly puts at the end of the unequaled tribulation (Dan 12:1-2, 13).

[Note: It is interesting to note with what great inconsistency Dan 12:11 is interpreted by those systems that deny special prophetic significance to natural Israel. One approach is to see Dan 12:11 as fulfilled in the second century B.C. when Antiochus IV desecrated the holy place and persecuted Jews loyal to the covenant. But a type is not an anti-type, as it is often the case in prophecy that a parallel fulfillment on the near horizon is only a type and pattern that points beyond itself to an eschatological fulfillment that will more perfectly match all the literal details of the prophecy, many of which were never fulfilled in the historical type. The other approach is to see the sacrifice as removed by the Romans, but since the sacrifice was not literally stopped until very near the end of the siege, this school of interpretation (‘historicist’) believes that each day should count for year, so that 1290 days becomes 1,290 years. However, there is little agreement among them as to which point in history ends the 1290 years.]

As mentioned, most conservative commentators interpret Dan 9:27 consistently as a literal seven year period, divided into two equal halves at the point where the sacrifice is stopped in “the middle of the week.” It becomes a question of consistency to find Dan 12:11 treated so differently, since it also speaks of the stopping of the sacrifice in connection with the time of desolation. In contrast to Dan 9:27, Dan 12:11 is either spiritualized as purely symbolic of a short time, or else converted into years.

Moreover, the specified time of 1290 days (3 1/2 years; 43 months) does not match the dates for the Roman siege. The sacrifice was not interrupted until only shortly (July 17th) before the Romans entered the temple (August 10th, 70 A.D). The actual siege lasted 134 days, a full four years after the beginning of the Jewish revolt. The events simply do not match. Most importantly, none of the events that Dan 12 associates with the time of the end were realized at that time.

It is better to see that the 3 1/2 years that follows the stopping of the sacrifice in Dan 9:27 is the same 3 1/2 years that follows the removal of the sacrifice in Dan 12:11, and that the sack of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 A.D constitutes the first of two distinct destructions, the former typical of the latter. This means that the “end” in Dn 9:26-27 looks beyond the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. to the abomination of desolation (Mt 24:15) that begins the final 3 1/2 years of great tribulation (Dan 7:25; 9:27; 12:7, 11; Rev 11:2-3; 12:6, 14; 13:5) that ends in nothing short of Jesus’s bodily return, the resurrection, and gathering of the saints (Dan 12:1-2; Mt 24:29, 31; Acts 1:11; 2Thes 2:1, 8).

It seems most inconsistent to make the half week of Dan 9:27 to end at some undesignated point 3 1/2 years after the cross, while assigning the 3 1/2 years of Dan 12:11 to the Roman sack of Jerusalem. The language of cessation of sacrifice and desolation, common to both passages, would never, apart from prior theological presumptions, lead one to conclude that the stopping of the sacrifice should be seen as separated from the placing of the abomination by 40 years, or by 1290 years, as in the year day theory of the historicist school. The text simply will not bear it, because both in tandem, as two sides of the same event, start the last 3 1/2 years of desolation that arrive at the resurrection of Daniel (Dan 12:1-2, 11, 13).

[Note: Jerusalem did not actually cease from being a Jewish city until after the revolt of Bar Kochba in 132-136 A.D. After that, the Romans changed its name to Aelia Capitolina, forbidding Jews to set foot in the city on pain of death. From that time, scholars began to interpret Jerusalem allegorically of the church, particularly since a literal Jewish Jerusalem seemed now a forgone conclusion. The end of Jerusalem as a city inhabited by Jews, seemed to lend support to the theology of replacement that would make such great room for the vilification and persecution of the Jew by “the arrogant kingdom,” the telling name the Jews would use to refer to the church that they knew in their experience.]

In Dan 9:25-26 mention is made of two princes, “‘Messiah, the prince,’ and ‘the prince that shall come.’ Which prince puts an end to the sacrifice in Dan 9:27? It is hard to over emphasize the importance of this question, as it will greatly determine how we see the end, particularly in relation to the Jewish question.

We believe the question is answered decisively by the simple observance that in every other reference to the desolating sacrilege throughout the book of Daniel, the daily sacrifice is taken away by the one who exalts himself (compare Dan 8:11; 11:31, 36-37; 12:11 with 2Thes 2:4). Conclusion: If it is not Christ but the Antichrist who stops the sacrifice “in the middle of the week” in Dan 9:27, then Daniel’s seventieth week must be future. It could no more have followed the 69th week in unbroken succession than the advent and career of the Antichrist could have immediately followed the death (‘cutting off;’ Dan 9:26) of Messiah.

The “end” in Dan 9:26-27 is consistent with “the end” in Dan 7:26; 8:17, 19; 12:4, 6, 8-9, 13. It is the short time (3 1/2 years), the half week of the unequaled tribulation (Dan 7:25; 9:27; 12:7, 11; Rev 11:2-3; 12:6, 14; 13:5). It is completely inconsistent to interpret the seven years as literal years divided into two halves of 3 1/2 years each, and then spiritualize the 3 1/2 years of great tribulation to be nothing more than a general ‘apocalyptic’ symbol for a short period of indefinite duration. Yet this is what we see with many commentators.

A comparison of Dan 12:1 with Rev 12:7 will further show the inseparable relation of events. Rev 12 shows that the standing up of Michael at the beginning of the unequaled trouble in Dan 12:1 is to cast down Satan to begin his ‘short time’ of wrath bringing great woe to the earth (Rev 12:12). Clearly, Satan’s short time coincides with the 3 1/2 years of the persecution of Israel and the church (Rev 12:6, 12, 14, 17).

Clearly, Michael’s heavenly triumph coincides with the time that the Antichrist enters the temple of God to place the abomination of desolation (Dan 11:31, 36-37; 12:11 with Mt 24:15; 2Thes 2:4). This observance invites us to consider the relationship between the casting down of Satan and the Antichrist’s defilement of the temple, since the two events stand equally at the beginning of the tribulation.

Many scorn the suggestion that scripture compels recognition of a gap between the 69th and 70th weeks of Dan 9:24-27. A little reflection should soften the criticism when it is understood that every interpretation must recognize a gap of some length. A gap will either be located between between the death of Jesus and the destruction of Jerusalem some 40 years later, or it will be the almost 2000 years between the advent of Christ and the advent of Antichrist.

There is nothing inherently incongruous or inconceivable about such a gap. It agrees perfectly with the pattern of the prophetic mystery of Christ’s twofold advent. Until its divinely appointed time of revelation, the gospel was a prophetic mystery concealed in the writings of the prophets (Ro 16:25-26; Eph 6:19; 1Pet 1:11). With the key of the gospel, we can see in retrospect many examples where both advents are combined and blended, without clear distinction. This explains why the Lord’s first coming presented such a formidable puzzle to Israel.

We believe this definite knowledge of the time will be strategic in the church’s intercessory travail for Israel, and will be answered by Michael’s victory over Satan at the threshold of the tribulation. Scripture is clear that it is only with the prior revelation of the mystery of iniquity that day of the Lord can come (2Thes 2:3, 7-8). A comparison of Rev 12:7-10 with Dan 12:1 would lead us to conclude that the revelation of the mystery of iniquity in the final Antichrist is directly related to Michael’s heavenly victory at the threshold of the tribulation when Satan is cast down to begin is ‘short time’ of wrath (Rev 12:12).

Thus, the church that would pray for the coming of the kingdom cannot ignore the cost of that prayer in what must come first. But when our view of His glory is such that we can love His appearing more than temporal ease and blessing, all hindrance will be removed; the Accuser will be cast down, and the kingdom of God will come with power (Rev 12:10).

The last days implies a deep corporate self emptying of the church that is connected to the time and the further opening of the sealed vision of Daniel (Isa 8:16-17; 29:11; Dan 9:24; 12:4, 9). There is a relation between the time of fulfillment and the knowledge of revealed secrets that God has strategically ordained to overcome the hindering powers and to crowd and quicken the church to vital intercession and divine break through in conjunction with His ‘set time’ (Ps 102:13; Dan 8:19; 11:27, 35).

There is a profound philosophy of history contained in the mystery of the seventy sevens. The inferred break between the 69th and 70th weeks of Daniel is built around two mysteries that both culminate in an incarnation. The first is the ‘mystery of godliness’ (1Tim 3:16) which answers to the mystery of the woman’s seed (Gen 3:15), as realized in the incarnation and atonement of the Messiah. The second is the “mystery of iniquity” (2Thes 2:7), which answers to the mystery of the Serpent’s seed, as realized in the incarnation of Satan in the man of sin.

As the 69 weeks would terminate with the accomplishment of the atonement in Messiah’s death (Dan 9:25-26), the 70th week would be reserved to bring in the time that the mystery of iniquity will be completed in the final Antichrist (2Thes 2:3, 7-8) and Messiah’s return to “finish the mystery of God” (Rev 10:7) in Israel’s deliverance (Jer 30:7; Dan 12:1) and the resurrection of the saints (Isa 25:7-8; 26:19; Dan 12:2; 1Cor 15:52-54).

Rather than terminating Daniel’s last week at some vague point 3 1/2 years after the cross, it is better to let Dan 12:11 be our the authoritative interpreter of Dan 9:27. Not Christ but the Antichrist confirms the covenant (Dan 8:25; 9:27; 11:23-24). Not Christ but the Antichrist stops the sacrifice 3 1/2 years before the end.

It seems to us most incongruous to suppose that Daniel could have conceived of an end of the seventy sevens that did not attain to the full promise of the eschatology of the covenant, which guaranteed Israel’s deliverance at the day of the Lord, together with the resurrection of the righteous (Isa 25:7-8; 26:16-17, 19; Dan 12:1, 13). Since this is found only at the end of the unequaled tribulation, it is hard to see the second half of the last seven expiring rather quietly in the first century, 3 1/2 years after the cross.

Furthermore, it is far better to see the “end” that is shown to come 3 1/2 years after the sacrifice is stopped “in the middle of the week,” not as confined to the 70 A.D. destruction by the Romans, but the “end” that follows a future desolation of Jerusalem, which Jesus connects so clearly to the unequaled tribulation that immediately precedes His return (Mt 24:29) and the resurrection and gathering of the church (Dan 12:1-2, 7, 13; Mt 24:31; 2Thes 1:7; 2:1). When such harmony of the evidence is discounted, we are inclined to look for the cause in something other than careful exegesis of the texts within their context.

All is to say that without the Jewish sanctuary and sacrifice situated in the only location sanctioned by scripture, the end cannot be imminent. It may be near, but it is not yet here. Until this particular set of inseparably related events are fully aligned, and until the stage is fully set in such an unmistakable way, we may be sure that Israel will continue to prevail in any conflict that may arise to threaten the nation’s survival.

Significantly, God’s final dealings with Israel begins, not when Israel is in a position of manifest danger, but when the nation is prosperous and secure. According to Eze 38:8, 12-13, Israel exists as a recently restored nation that has grown very prosperous when invaded suddenly and unexpected by the Antichrist. Not only are they enjoying for the first time in 19 centuries the restoration of temple and sacrifice, but they are secure in their expectation of continued peace and safety, assured, no doubt, that the messianic era has either begun or is near at hand. This is the circumstance that prophecy predicts of Israel when the proverbial hammer falls (Isa 28:15, 18; Eze 38:8, 11, 14; Dan 8:25; 11:23-24; 1Thes 5:3). The point that God is making through such an unexpected set of circumstances is something profoundly instructive for how He intends to plead with Israel, much to probe and ponder for us here.

We may ponder what kind of changes will be necessary to force Muslim acceptance of the presence of a Jewish sanctuary and sacrifice on the fiercely guarded temple mount. We notice too that according to Isa 63:18, it appears that the holy places have been only recently restored (“a little while”) when Jerusalem is suddenly ‘trodden down’ by the adversary (Isa 64:10-11; Rev 11:2). This suggests that Israel has only recently recovered access to the the temple mount when the Antichrist invades.

This implies that sometime between now and the time that Israel can freely proceed build and sacrifice on the forbidden temple mount, something seismic has happened to force Muslim acceptance of such an otherwise unthinkable arrangement. How this will come about will be a wonder to behold. Therefore, if we would not be distracted by premature excitement (the ‘false alarms of prophetic speculation’), we must pay close attention to what must be in place before the Antichrist can fulfill all that is written of him.

Not only must the temple and sacrifice be in place, but Dan 11:23 thru Dan 11:31 gives us a definite sequence of events that take place in the first half of the seven years after the peace arrangement but before the abomination. We note that sometime “AFTER the league made with him” (Dan 11:23), he conquers a powerful king to his south (Dan 11:25-26). After the defeat of this king, the conqueror and the conquered sit at one table to plot against the ‘holy covenant’ (Dan 11:28, 30) that pertains to the sanctuary and sacrifice according to the divine grant that appointed this specific place to one elect people as the place of His Name and covenant claim.

Indeed, if reference to the ‘holy covenant’ in Dan 11:28, 30 can be demonstrated to have a future fulfillment, then the whole question of divine right to the Land that is so much debated among evangelicals is decisively answered, since the covenant is called “holy” despite the unbelieving state of those appointed to the discipline of Jacob’s trouble.

[Note: Manifestly, God is holding the nations responsible to understand and revere His covenant with Israel, as it is clear that when the Antichrist presumes to lead his confederacy down to scatter His people (“My heritage”) and divide ‘His Land’ (Dan 11:39; Joel 3:2), a definite line has been crossed, a point of no return, as God’s fury “comes up into His face,” and a full end is declared (Eze 38:17; 39:8 with Rev 16:17). It is made to appear that this great presumption by the Antichrist is counted as the ultimate provocation, but note that it is particularly depicted as an assault against the ‘holy covenant.’ And what is that if it is not the Word of election and covenant that God has spoken concerning this particular people?]

Could the covenant that the Antichrist confirms with many at the beginning of Daniel’s 70th week be the same covenant that the Antichrist will hate, and conspire to destroy? We think so. In any event, the plans of these two kings do not prosper, because the time of the appointed end is not yet (Dan 11:27). Soon after this, the Antichrist (“vile person;” Dan 11:21) attempts another southward advance, but to no avail, as he is checked and turned back by the ‘ships of Chittim’ (Dan 11:29-30).

In biblical idiom, Chittim or Kittim was associated with the maritime coastlands of the northwestern Mediterranean. The prophecy suggests a formidable armada from the west that is able to momentarily check the movements of the one who will very shortly invade Israel with irresistible force (Dan 11:31 with Rev 13:4). This second move south is apparently perceived to threaten the security of the covenant.

In today’s world, the ‘ships of Chittim,’ would seem to indicate a western power such as the U.S. or NATO with a naval presence in the Mediterranean. We may safely assume that the ‘ships of Chittim’ represents a very formidable power, because it is able to turn back the one who will, in a very short time, command a military supremacy that none can hope to resist (Dan 11:31 with Rev 13:4).

The momentary success of the ships of Chittim will greatly reinforce the feeling that the security of the covenant is invincible under the guardianship of such a powerful force, as represented by the ‘ships of Chittim.’ But immediately after he is repulsed in his second southward advance, he begins to have secret intelligence with the other nations that apparently share his hatred for the covenant (Dan 11:28, 30, 32). We may safely assume that this intelligence (plotting) is indeed secret, because Israel, and the nations protecting the covenant, are taken completely by surprise by the invasion. Israel’s ‘presumption’ of security will be at its height when disaster strikes.

In addition to commanding the high ground in future negotiations over Jerusalem and the temple mount, we also may infer on the basis of Eze 38:12-13 that Israel has become the jewel of the Middle-East. This remarkable prosperity will further exasperate and vex the envy of the Antichrist and the cast of nations that will support his designs against the covenant. These are the nations that will seek opportunity to end western dominance over the resources of the region.

Not only Israel, but any nation that has backed the hated ‘Zionist’ state will be equally marked for destruction. Israel’s increasing prosperity exasperate not only Arab hatred, it will also excite the covetousness of the nations from the regions in the north (Eze 38:2, 5-6). It appears that the Antichrist will not only exploit Islamic hatred of the covenant, he may also gain support from nations that will support his plan to wrest the economic advantage from the west and restore it to its place of origin (Zech 5:5-11?).

A case can be made for a twofold destruction of Babylon. This brings harmony to a number of scriptures. The ten kingdoms under the command of the Antichrist will inflict a fiery judgment on the harlot, which in our view is primarily a reference to Jerusalem, but perhaps not only Jerusalem but the western powers that support and guard the covenant that is hated by the Antichrist and his supporters. Such nation or nations would be represented by the reference in Dan 11:30 to the ships of Chittim. The further second stage of the harlot’s destruction includes all of word-wide Babylon at the Lord’s return.

At the middle of the week, 3 1/2 years from the time that the covenant was confirmed (Dan 9:27; 12:7, 11), the invasion of the Antichrist will come in suddenly like an overwhelming flood (Dan 9:26; 11:22). The reversal will be staggering, not only for Israel, but also the nation or nations that pledged to guard the covenant (‘ships of Chittim’ ?) will be caught equally off guard when disaster strikes. That is when I can personally conceive, even expect, that the western powers that have pledged protection of the covenant may simultaneously come under nuclear attack against our major population centers and infrastructure. Whether that will be, one thing is very clear: The formidable western naval power that successfully repulsed the Antichrist such a short time before will be helpless to stop him.

Towards the end of the tribulation, it appears that some of these great powers such as China (“tidings from the east;” and “kings of the east”) and possibly some part or all of Russia or perhaps a western power (“king of the north”) will come against the Antichrist. This is little considered but very clear in the last verses of Dan 11 that describe a final ‘Waterloo’ for the Antichrist just before he is destroyed by the breath of the Lord.

The question is, were either or both of these super powers involved in a supportive role at the time of the Antichrist’s initial invasion of Jerusalem at the beginning of the tribulation? Daniel makes clear that a mighty nation from the north, another from the south, and “the kings of the east” will be pushing against him with great fury (Dan 11:40, 44; Rev 16:12-14) when he comes to his end in Dan 11:45.

Still, I don’t see anything so far that leads me to expect that the present crisis will necessarily lead immediately into the particular peace arrangement that will permit Jewish re-annexation, or even access to the temple mount. I would expect something more extreme, but anything is possible. If, however, this crisis escalates into a regional war that shakes things up and re-positions and re-shapes the current policy of accommodation by the secular state, then we can’t rule out that possibility. Things have the potential to change radically, almost overnight, as we saw in Russia.

A strategic and decisive victory for Israel (all the more if it proves very costly), coupled with the impressive prosperity that prophecy anticipates before the tribulation (Eze 38:12-13), would put Israel in a much more advantageous bargaining position requiring compromise from the Muslim world that would never be considered under the present circumstances. It suggests, not a complete subjugation of the Arab world, but a great and unprecedented advantage sufficient to induce compromise that would not, at the moment, be even remotely entertained. It is in such a climate and circumstance that I think we will see the confirmation of the covenant / peace arrangement that we’re looking for, but not until. We will know it’s the one because it will be attended by initiatives to restore the sanctuary and sacrifice on the temple mount.

This brings the further question: Is it possible that Jews will gain access to the temple mount before the last 7 begins? Or will this be a sign that we are in the last seven? I believe the latter. Here’s why: According to inferences based on what we consider the most credible interpretation of Dan 8:11-14, the regular sacrifice that is taken away in the middle of the week (see Dan 8:11; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11) has only recently been restored (‘possessed but a little while;’ Isa 63:18) when it is removed to begin the final 42 months of the prophesied desolation of Jerusalem (Isa 63:18; 64:10-11 with Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11; Mt 24:15-16; 2Thes 2:4; Rev 11:2), also called, ‘the time of Jacob’s trouble’ (compare Jer 30:7 with Dan 12:1; Mt 24:21).

We believe that the 2,300 day prophecy of Dan 8:12-14 comprehends the entire time from when the sacrifice is re-started until the end. Dan 9:27 with Dan 12:11 is clear in showing that from the mid-point of Daniel’s 70th week, there is 1290 days from the removal of the daily sacrifice to the end. The 2,300 days covers the longer period from the start of the sacrifice to the end.

In order for the sacrifice to be stopped 1290 days before the end, certainly it must first be started. We believe the purpose of the prophecy of the 2300 days is to show us that the sacrifice that is removed in the middle of the week has been only recently restarted very shortly after the covenant has been confirmed. If this is true, it greatly defines the nature of the covenant and how it can be distinguished from any other peace arrangement. I’ll come back to this, but this is much more than just one more peace arrangement in the Middle-East.

If the seven years is reckoned as an equal 1260 for both halves of the period, we have a total of 2,520 days. 2300 from 2,520 leaves 220 days. This would imply that the 2,300 days begins with the renewal of the sacrifice about 7 months and 10 days after the covenant was confirmed. However, the mysterious extension of days in Dan 12:11-12 prevents us from any such precision. Interestingly, the 1260 days, the 42 months, the time, times, and half of time of Dan 7:25; 12:7; Rev 11:2-3; 12:6, 14; 13:5, all seem to be reckoned from two nearly simultaneous events, one in heaven and one on earth. They are the abomination of desolation, which includes the removal of the daily sacrifice (Dan 8:11; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11; Mt 24:15), and the standing up of Michael in Dan 12:1 and Rev 12:7 at the beginning of the last 3 1/2 years of unequaled tribulation.

[Note: This correlation of events has been far too overlooked by commentators. It should not be missed that in Dan 12:1 Michael stands up at the beginning of the unequaled troubled. The same sequence is seen in Rev 12 where Michael prevails to cast down Satan to the earth. This results in Satan’s ‘short time’ (Rev 12:12), which is manifestly concurrent with the persecution of the last 3 1/2 years (Rev 12:6, 14-17). There can be no doubt that the same time is in view in both places. The standing of Michael to cast down Satan is clearly the heavenly event that is the catalyst for the earthly event of the abomination in the temple at Jerusalem. Both set in motion the unequaled tribulation that precedes Christ’s return.]

The difficulty in calculating the precise time that the sacrifice will start lies in the mysterious extension of days that we find in Dan 12:11-12. 1290 days is 30 days longer than 1260 days and 1335 is 45 days longer still, for a total of 75 days. What is the significance of this mysterious extension of days? We are not told specifically. We may, however, suppose such things as the time that the penitent remnant will go apart to mourn, or the cleansing of the sanctuary or dedication of the new temple (whether understood literally or symbolically, as this is a notable stumbling block for many). In any event, it is a time of special blessing of new beginnings for the newly regenerate nation.

It seems clear to me that none of the three terminal points (1260; 1290; 1335) can be the exact time of the Lord’s return, for the following 3 reasons:

1) Jesus said the exact day and hour of His return was unknown even to Him, at least during the time of His self-emptying on earth. Furthermore, I believe it is altogether possible that he had the mysterious extension of the days in Daniel specifically in mind when He gave that caveat.

2). Not only the 1335 but also the 1290 days appear to take us to a time beyond the the Lord’s return to destroy the Antichrist. This we conclude, because the Antichrist’s persecution of Israel and the saints is limited to 42 months (Dan 7:25; 12:7; Rev 11:2-3; 12:6, 14; 13:5), whereas the 1290 days is 43 months, and takes us to a point that seems a little beyond Christ’s return to destroy the Antichrist. Hence, the 1290 and 1335 are points of special significance in the earliest days of the millennium.

3). Nor does Jesus return at the end of the 1260th day. At the end of the 1260 days the two witnesses are killed and their dead bodies lie in the streets of Jerusalem for an additional 3 1/2 days. In the same hour of their ascent in the sight of their enemies, the ‘second woe,’ which is the 6th trumpet, is declared as past with the announcement that the ‘third woe,’ which is the 7th trumpet, is coming quickly. We may only wonder how quickly. Thus, it seems clear that the Lord’s return is somewhere between the 1263.5 days that conclude the 6th trumpet and the 1290th day. However, in view of the limitation of he Antichrist’s persecution of the woman and the saints to only 42 months, we must expect the Lord’s return at the seventh trumpet (Rev 10:7; 11:15-18) to come somewhere nearer to the expiration of the 1260 days than to the 1290th day, which amounts to 43 months.

[Note also that even so late as the 6th bowl of wrath, and just before the “great day of God Almighty,” which is clearly the seventh bowl (Rev 16:14-17 with Eze 39:8), we see the Lord interjecting between the 6th and 7th bowl these fateful words: “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.” (Rev 16:15). In 2 Pet 3:10, 12, the day of the Lord is equated with the day of God, the only other place the day of God is mentioned in just those words other than here in the book of Revelation. It is ‘that day’ that Peter says will come as a thief, and here in Rev 16:15, after the 6th bowl but before the 7th, the Lord is warning that He is coming as a thief. Should we not understand that it is on “the great day of God Almighty” that He returns as a thief?]

All is to say that in order to calculate the 2,300 days of Dan 8:12-13 accurately, we would have to know the precise end-point for the event identified as the ‘cleansing of the sanctuary.’ From that point, counting backwards, we arrive at the starting point of the sacrifice. This means that the sacrifice that is started at the beginning of the 2,300 days is taken away approximately 3 1/2 years before the end, which “end” is shown in Dan 12:2, 13 to coincide with the time of Daniel’s personal resurrection at “the end of the days” (Dan 12:13). [It is exceedingly hard to understand the lengths to which some commentators will go to interpret such language as being satisfied by events that passed with the first century.]

As I see it, the precise day that the sanctuary will be cleansed, like the exact day of the Lord’s return, is deliberately veiled from us. We are not definitely told what happens at the end of the 1290th day or the 1335th day. We may speculate and infer but since the scripture does not say explicitly, we are not able to say precisely when the sanctuary is cleansed. It would be most reasonable to suppose that since the 1290th day is a further point, somewhat beyond the day of the Lord’s return, that it is the day that the sanctuary is cleansed. Perhaps so, but it is not definitely stated.

The full time from 1260 to 1335 is 75 additional days. That’s about 2 1/2 months. Given the additional terminal points beyond the 1260, and not knowing which, if either, of those specified days definitely mark the cleansing of the sanctuary, we can only say that sometime between 8 and 10 months after the covenant has been confirmed, the sacrifice will definitely be started again.

This does not require the completion of a temple (though, of course, in the modern world a temple could rise very quickly). We know this, because no sooner did the returning exiles under Zerubbabel return to the site of the altar, but they immediately began to offer sacrifice while work on the temple was only beginning. Furthermore, we know that the Greek word that Paul uses for the temple signifies its inner sanctum. This is in perfect keeping with Jesus’ mention of the inner room of the sanctuary called ‘the holy place.’ Therefore, a fully completed temple is not necessary for the prophecy to be fulfilled.

If we are correct that a restored sanctuary and sacrifice will be at the heart of the “holy covenant” (Dan 9:27 with Dan 11:28, 30, 32) that the Antichrist will ‘confirm’ (not create but ‘make firm’) with many (not necessarily ‘many’ Jews, but more probably many nations), then we will know when the seven years has begun regardless of who we may have thought the Antichrist would be or where he comes from. By this we will be able to distinguish it from any other peace arrangements along the way.

Even if we are ignorant or incorrect of exactly who the Antichrist is or where he comes from, we will nonetheless know with certainty that the seven years has begun. We will at least know that the Antichrist is among those heads of state that ratify the treaty that confirms Israel’s right to the appurtenances of the “holy covenant.” We will also know that “after the league made with him” (Dan 9:27; 11:23), the Jews will shortly begin to offer sacrifice again and evidently begin to build the temple that will house the ‘holy place’ that he defiles in the middle of the week.

If the language of scripture and historical precedent be given priority over conspiracy theory and speculation, this ‘holy covenant’ will certainly have to do with Jewish right to the Land and the city of Jerusalem, and particularly the temple mount. From the start, the Antichrist both hates and plots against the very  covenant that he confirmed with many (Dan 9:27; 11:23). This is the paradox. On one side, the treaty is a covenant with death and hell. It is unholy in that it trusts in man for its security. On the other side, it is holy in the sense that it recognizes, or rather pretends to recognize, Israel’s legitimacy and restored rights to temple and sacrifice. This is what the Antichrist will conspire against, first with a conquered king to his south (Dan 11:27), then with other nations who share a mutual hatred of the covenant (Dan 11:27-28, 30, 32).

I say that his intelligence with them who hate the covenant is “secret,” simply because scripture is clear that until he comes in suddenly “with the arms of a flood,” both Israel, and no doubt the western powers that are protectorates of the covenant (ships of Chittim), are unsuspecting of this sudden and overwhelming show of force (Dan 11:31 with Rev 13:4). At this point, Israel is basking in the presumed security of divine favor.

With the recent successful interdiction of the Antichrist’s southward initiative by the ships of Chittim, Israel will feel that the peace is more secure and invincible than ever and will securely dismiss the warnings of the prophetic witness that will be coming to them from within and without (Isa 28:11-12, 14-15). However, within whatever time may be considered to pass between Dan 11:30 and verse 31, a great shift of power has occurred.

Within a short time after he has been frustrated by the western armada, the Antichrist is able to secure the further backing needed to mount an irresistible invasion force against Israel.  Not only this, but a case can be made for the view that sometime after Dan 11:30 but before Dan 11:31, this beast has been resuscitated from a mortal wound to become the full incarnation of Satan, “with ALL power and signs of deceptive wonders” (2Thes 2:9). This is when the whole world wonders when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is (Rev 17:8).

It will be a demonic miracle, something much more deceptive and immediately compelling than the re-emegence of an empire, or an illusion of technology, as sometimes interpreted. It will be the ‘revelation of the mystery of iniquity’, which must be accomplished before Christ can return (2Thes 2:3, 7-8).

We believe this happens in immediate connection with Michael’s eviction of Satan in Rev 12:7-14, as also implied in Dan 12:1. It is then, upon the event of this supernatural empowerment from Satan (Dan 8:24 with Rev 13:2), that the Antichrist proceeds to enter the temple, claiming divine honors (Dan 11:36-37 with 2Thes 2:4). The Lord help you and give you grace to see the connection and the essence of things, as you search the scriptures to prove whether these things be so.

Yours in common waiting for the consolation of Israel, Reggie

Hi Reggie. If you get the time would you watch this video and let me know your opinion? It gets good about 17 minutes in. I don’t agree with the stance on Torah, but the prophetic timeline is very interesting!

I believe this is one that I’ve seen with some friends at their house. If I recall correctly, it held forth the somewhat ‘tentative’ but serious proposal that the evidence points to the revelation of the Antichrist on March 22, 2013. I say, ‘no way, Jose!’

When time permits, I want to compare notes with you a bit about your difference with my view on the full futurity of Daniel’s last week, something I can show not only exegetically, but from the church fathers (Hippolytus in particular), as no mid 19th century invention of dispensationalism. In the meantime, it is sufficient, I would expect, to appeal to something you and I happily agree on, namely our mutual view that Dan 11:23 to verse 31 describes the events leading up to the abomination.

Now, of course, if one sees no need for a peace arrangement that fulfills Dan 9:27; 11:23 and the covenant with death and hell (Isa 28:15, 18) that provides for Israel’s declaration of “peace and safety” (1Thes 5:3), and IF the revelation of the Antichrist is NOT (as I’m persuaded) at the threshold of the abomination in connection with Satan’s dejection by Michael in the middle of the week (Dan 12:1 with Rev 12:7-14). In other words, if the AC can appear completely independently of these preliminary events, then, of course, he’s subject to just appear at anytime. But then what events would distinguish his parousia? Surely, at very minimum, you’d agree it would be his violation of the holy place at Jerusalem.

Apart from such preliminary signal events, the revelation of the Antichrist can be just whenever anyone’s dates suggest that he’s on the scene. Apart from something tangible, as Paul’s identification of his appearing with standing in the temple, then its up for grabs and what is there to distinguish his presence? If the temple of God is NOT the holy place in Judea, then we may suppose the AC appears when he stands up in the church, or in the Holy See at Rome, and forces worship on Sunday, demanding worship on pain of death, as in the view of the replacement oriented 7th day adventists.

You’re agreed, are you not, that Paul is speaking of the abomination? If so, then you’d be agreed that Dan 11:23-30 must happen first. On my part, I believe the revelation of the man of sin is something more than merely identifying who the Antichrist is.That will become clear enough by the events of Dan 11:23-30 BEFORE the abomination. I see the ‘revelation’ of the man of sin to subsist in a transitional moment of demonic incarnation that emboldens his violation of the holy place at Jerusalem. I see this as the finishing of the mystery of iniquity in the incarnation of the seed of the Serpent in the coming prince. I understand, of course, that that postulate didn’t sit well with you, and when time permits I hope to take further pains to make the case and to distance my position from some unfortunate ‘guilt by association’ with dispensational presuppositions. I believe you’re confounding something of the ‘baby’ with the proverbial, ‘bath water,’ but that’s another discussion. In the meantime, if you believe that the manifestation of the man of sin is where Paul puts it in relation to Antichrist’s invasion of the temple at Jerusalem, it would seem to me that you’d want to ask, “where’s the preliminary and preparatory events of Dan 11:23-30? Can that much be squeezed in before March 23, 2013? I don’t think so, and I shouldn’t expect that you would either in view of our mutual position on Dan 11:21-31.

I’m also glad that you’re not impressed with their position on the Torah, as I believe it is a forerunner of a very great deception that will test the body of Messiah to the core. Furthermore, if their views are as close as they appear to 7th day adventism, then I wouldn’t be surprised if they do not also spiritualize all things regarding temple and Jerusalem, which would make it all the easier to expect Antichrist to just show up independently of such events according to some astronomical calculations based on a combination of the feasts and the constellations.

In appreciative friendship, Reggie

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Followup Question:

Let me ask you this…do you believe as I think Art (Katz) did that the second coming is very soon?

It is always time to be urgent and watchful, as the time of His coming is, in one sense, always ‘at hand.’ In one sense the church at all times live at an equidistance to His return, as none of the wicked will escape the terror, and none of the righteous will miss the glory of that day. It has also always been time to know the truth; and the truth has always been that before Jesus can come, the Antichrist must first be revealed. Even this does not happen in a vacuum, but in connection with a series of clearly foretold signal events that can only take place around a last days crisis over Jerusalem, a “Jewish” Jerusalem.

I’ve known Art since his arrival at the Ben Israel property in ’74. Years before I joined the community, a close brother from our community in Texas joined Art’s community in northern MN. I would come up and they would come down and we would go on ministerial forays with Art. At that time Art’s emphasis was not on Israel and the last days. That would come later, but even then we would often talk about the stance of the messianics in the Land, and really everywhere, who’s watchword in those days was, “comfort ye my people.”

As much as we were grateful and desirous of any comfort, however momentary, from Israel’s tragic course through history, and as much as we were tendered and grateful for the small measure of asylum that Aliyah might offer in terms of momentary respite from their long sufferings, still, I would often point out that this slogan was premature in terms of the big picture. Israel would NOT have this promised comfort until their “warfare is accomplished,” and that would only come AFTER Jacob’s trouble, which necessarily awaits the event of the abomination in Jerusalem. The messianics in the Land were simply NOT reckoning on this, at least not then, as confirmed by many statements from them.

This began a line of thought in Art that was more cross centered in his understanding of prophecy, which until this time, existed as almost a ‘studied avoidance’ of idle prophecy excitement that distracted from discipleship and the cross in the believer’s sanctification. We would often pray with great travail of spirit that Art would catch the importance of the prophetic scriptures, particularly the details of Daniel, as the Lord’s appointed mouthpiece. This came when he saw the outbreak of the intifada. The manifestation of such implacable hatred, such that would never be assuaged by any kind of political accomodation, was, to him, a clear portent of Israel’s necessary death before resurrection, a key motif that would characterize his word to the nations in the days to follow.

At first, his view was much like your own. He saw nothing in scripture that had to be fulfilled before the sudden rise of Antichrist and the advent of Israel’s last and greatest tribulation. This made him ‘persona non grata’ to many, really most, of the messianic leadership in Israel and elsewhere. This was about the time I joined the community and was usually the one that would travel with Art. Through our studies and conversations, he gave up the view that Jacob’s trouble was imminent. He took the view that you, at least for now, associate with dispensationlism.

My hope, in brotherly love, is that you will reconsider as I trust I can present some things to your attention on this question that you’ve not considered, but, of course, that remains to be seen. All is to say, I believe some things must happen before even the Antichrist can come. Those things, in my view are critical to the preparation of the body, both practically and spiritually. There MUST be something answering to the ‘temple of God’ on the forbidden temple mount that can count as the ‘holy place’ situated in Judea (2Thes 2:4 with Mt 24:15; Dan 11:31), as this will be the scene of the Antichrist’s initial desecration that signals the great tribulation.

There MUST be a restored sacrifice in that ‘holy place’ that he (the prince who exalts himself), NOT Jesus, ‘takes away’ (Dan 8:11; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11). There MUST be a false league with this dangerous enemy who, from the beginning, studies to destroy the covenant he confirms with the many (Dan 9:27; 11:23; Isa 28:15, 18; 1Thes 5:3, which I believe has the false security of Eze 38:8, 11, 14 in mind). This deadly league (Dan 11:23) among nations with the Antichrist being one participant among “many” will “confirm” (give formal recognition) the “holy covenant” (Dan 11:28, 30) that will be violated in the middle of the week (Dan 9:27) to being the last 3 1/2 years (half week) of unequaled tribulation (Jer 30:7; Dan 12:1, 7, 11; Mt 24:21).

If this be so, it means that some very seismic changes will have to come about in the region, because, as it stands now, the Islamic world threatens to “open hell” if Israel so much as assays to approach the sacred ground of the ‘noble sanctuary,’ this would “open hell.” So I believe a war is imminent that will completely re-configure the politics of the region and that Israel will have an advantage in the negotiations that they do not presently have. This may, of course, happen very soon. In my reading of Mic 5:1-4 and Hos 5:15; Hos 6:1-2, there is approximately 2000 years (the 2 days of Hos 6:2) before the Lord’s rejection and return to heaven and His return at the end of the tribulation. At that time, the rejected Messiah ben Joseph is revealed to His estranged brethren who will then answer, “blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord …” (Mt 23:39). I see the third day as the time when Israel lives in His sight throughout the balance of the the thousand years.

Until then, their house is left desolate. It is the designated ‘holy place’ that He appointed. It is the ‘temple of God’ that was consecrated by His Word and commandment, but the sacrifice is NOT, of course, one that He accepts. It is rather a statement of their abiding rejection of Jesus’ sacrifice. This is clear since those that offer it are appointed for the “days of vengeance and wrath upon this people that “all” things written in the prophets might be fulfilled.”

In all the great ‘until’s’ of prophecy it is clear that the Jew outside of Christ is under the discipline / wrath of the covenant. However, they are no less elect and beloved and appointed to be “born in one day” (Isa 66:7-8) after Zion’s travail at the post-tribulational day of the Lord. So while I don’t see the Lord’s return as imminent; I do see it as very soon. In fact, I believe it MUST be very soon, because I am firm in my conviction that we are at the very far end of the two days of Hos 6:2, which I believe speaks of the hidden interim between His advents that has come to light in the mystery of the gospel.

I am praying that you and your wife are led faithfully and graciously, with much mercy and kindness, to your appointed place of service, and that the Holy Spirit will lead you into all truth.

Your friend in the fray, Reggie

I’m “squeezing” the Videos on Daniel due to the study of Daniel here with the group of men in my church. I have been blessed tremendously by them and able to show some of the things that I have learned.

Next week we are going to enter Daniel 11, and I have the impression that the study is going to turn to introduce the antichrist in v 36. I have to be able to show them that antichrist is introduced in v 21. What are the things that Antiochus IV doesn’t fulfill in v22-35 ? Do you have any scholars names, book recommendations or sources that amplified this point?

Your question concerning how to show that the Antichrist is introduced in Dan 11:21 rather than verse 36 is a very good one. Give me just a little time to put together a short bibliography of commentators who agree with our position and differ from the consensus report that the shift from antiquity to the future comes at Dan 11:36.

Thankfully, there are a few substantial scholars, well informed of the issues, who take our view. I’m hoping that soon I’ll have opportunity to do a much more thorough work on this disputed section, since it is bound to be a question for many who have seen the conflicting views of the commentaries.

There is definitely a partial and parallel fulfillment by Antiochus Epiphanes IV. However, there are some few details that do not well fit with well documented history, and a high view of inspiration cannot be content with partial fulfillment. Even in the passages before verse 36 some of the commentators who apply verses 21-35 to Antiochus and wars that ended with the triumph of the Maccabees are divided over some of the details. Even there, one can find gaps of a questionable nature between the details of scripture and the details (or lack of details) in the historical record.

In their zeal to show the miracle of prophecy and the integrity of Daniel’s prophecy, conservative scholars have tended to gloss over some of the discrepancies between the text and the historical documentation. Beyond verse 35 there is consensus among conservative interpreters that the eschatological Antichrist is in view. In contrast, there are a few scholars that find too much in the text that does not so well match the doings of Antiochus, but see his partial and imperfect fulfillment as pointing beyond to a more exhaustive and complete fulfillment in the Antichrist of the final and unequaled tribulation. We see Antiochus as a divinely ordained type, but not the final fulfillment. What he fulfilled partially, in parallel and in type, the “coming prince” will fulfill in exhaustive detail to the last jot and tittle.

This does not mean that the Antichrist takes up where Antiochus left off. The historical does not merely vaguely ‘fade into’ the eschatological. There will be a plenary and exhaustive fulfillment in the future of every jot and tittle of the prophecy. We do not believe that Antiochus is the “vile person” of Dan 11:21. He was only an instructive prototype of the character and doings of the Antichrist who is the “vile person” who places the abomination that starts unequaled trouble (Dan 11:31; 12:11; Mt 24:15).

Scholars who want to understand Antiochus as the vile person in Dan 11 tend also to interpret the “little horn” of Dan 8:9 to refer, not to the Antichrist but to Antiochus. They are content to understand that the ‘little horn’ of Dan 8:9 is an entirely different individual from the ‘little horn’ of Dan 7:8. In defense of their view that Antiochus fulfills Dan 8, many interpreters make the same name to apply to two different individuals. The ‘little horn’ in Dan 7 is affirmed by most to be the Antichrist and Man of Sin of Dan 11:36 and 2Thes 2:4, but hold that the ‘little horn’ of Dan 8:9 is Antiochus, same titles in same book but totally different individuals. It is better to see all these titles to be consistently speaking of the same self exalting prince, since in every instance, he is the one who removes the sacrifice that begins the unequaled trouble (Dan 8:11; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11).

Even for one who does not have access to the historical sources that scholars use, it is enough to observe that the Lord’s own words in Mt 24:15 clearly puts the abomination of Dan 11:31 and Dan 12:11 in the future. This is decisive. He did not say an event “like” the one spoken of by Daniel, but the event itself. How can a believing view of scripture suppose that Antiochus fulfilled the abomination of desolation in Dan 11:31, when within the same prophecy, revealed at the same time by the same heavenly messenger, the same precise words are used in Dan 12:11 of the event (not a similar event) that marks the last 3 1/2 years ending in the deliverance of Daniel’s people and the resurrection of the righteous dead? (Dan 11:31; 12:1-2, 11).

To separate and identify Dan 11:31 and Dan 12:11 as two different events happening millennia apart would certainly never have occurred to Daniel, and Jesus well knew the history of the Maccabbean times. No, Antiochus is only the type; he is not the fulfillment of Dan 11:31. And Dan 11:31 is certainly the act of the ‘vile person’ of Dan 11:21. There is no break or shift in the narrative to suggest otherwise. The willful king of verse 36 is the same king that has been in view since verse 21, only now, for the moment, he is having irresistible success in his designs against the covenant.

There are many other reasons that I hope to mention when I can find more time, but it is clear that Mt 24:15 is word for word the precise same language we find in BOTH Dan 11:31 and Dan 12:11. It is clearly the same event. It is a real stretch to suggest that Dan 11:31 is a different event from Dan 12:11 when both belong to the same continuous narrative delivered by the same heavenly messenger at the same time (see Dan 10 thru 12).

It is contrary to the plain language of the text to hold that the abomination and removal of the sacrifice in Dan 11:31 is a completely different time and event than described in Dan 12:11. Manifestly, the two are the same. In both, it is the self exalting prince that enters the temple of God and takes away the regular sacrifice (compare Dan 8:11; 11:31, 36-37; 12:11 with 2Thes 2:4). This follows after a deadly “league” has been made with the “vile person” of Dan 11:21 (Isa 28:15, 18; Dan 9:27 with Dan 11:23).

Furthermore, if we carefully observe the obvious parallel language between Dan 11:35 with Dan 12:9-10, noting that Dan 11:35 belongs to the sequence of events that begin in verse 31, it becomes absurd to suppose that “the end” means the 2nd century B.C. in Dan 11:27, 35 while the same term means the final and eschatological “end” in Dan 11:40; 12:4, 6, 8-9, 13. Inconceivable!

Hence, in order to introduce the Antichrist into the narrative of Dan 11 at verse 36, we must suppose that precisely equivalent terms, within the same narrative, should be understood to relate to an entirely different end and group of events. In such case, we must be prepared to say that “the end” of Dan 11:27, 35 is a quite different “end” than the end in view in Dan 11:40; 12:4, 6, 8-9, 13. Not only this, but the ‘maskilim’ (Heb. for the wise who understand and have insight) in Dan 11:35 is interpreted as the Maccabee warriors of the 2nd century B.C. while the ‘wise’ of Dan 12:3, 10 that are “purified and made white,” as in Dan 11:35 are the martyrs of the tribulation. Inconceivable!

Are we to suppose that the precise same language within the same prophetic narrative is being applied to completely different times and events separated by over two 21 centuries? This is a delicate matter, because Jesus sends us to Daniel to find this event in particular and to read with understanding in full knowing of what is at stake and the deception and confusion that would swirl over these issues when the end would come.

Except for its exact parallel in Dan 12:10, the abomination is nowhere else mentioned in the book of Daniel with so much the precise wording that Jesus uses in Mt 24:15. For me, that is very significant, since if the ‘vile person’ and the ‘willful king’ are the same, then the first half of the seven years begins when “the league is made with him” in Dan 11:23. That means that the second half begins with Dan 11:31. This opens to the believer’s expectation a perfectly ordered sequence of events that will be the countdown to the tribulation that begins in Dan 11:31. It means that from Dan 11:23 to Dan 11:30, we have the first half of the week. It is my conviction that this knowledge will prove to be simply priceless for the church’s strategic advantage in the days to come, which will also be for Israel’s sake.

This is another one of those areas where there is a need to bring a defense where the truth is significantly under siege. I believe I know why. Satan knows that a church that is wakeful of the time is a church that will be in special travail and intercessory union with God at the set time of his expulsion by Michael, as ‘the downfall of the Devil is in the details of Daniel.’

Appreciatively, yours in the Beloved, Reggie

I’m looking at how Ezekiel 11 opens with the inviolability of Zion (“the protective caldron”) and then the glory begins moving slowly from the temple, finally leaving the city to rest on the Mount of Olives. Then I came across a note that, according to rabbinic tradition, the glory rested on the Mt. of Olives for 3 1/2 years hoping for repentance before it finally left.

Is Ezekiel seeing through the crisis of 586, the last 3 1/2 years when the glory shields a newly rebuild temple for a while, then finally leaves the city over to destruction for 3 1/2 years? The 3 1/2 years and the fact that Jesus re-enters the city (the glory coming back) from the Mt. of Olives seems to point to a greater fulfillment than what Ezekiel would have imagined.

I do notice the remarkable parallel to those of the coming time who will reassure their compatriots that it is time to build houses in Jerusalem, believing the day of reckoning to be a long way off if at all. Significantly, those who will be slain will be called, “their slain.” God lays responsibility for their death at the feet of the false prophets that promised sanctuary in the city marked for destruction when they should have been warning them to flee. Sound familiar? Of course, in the modern context, the time for flight assumes that one has discerned the time. It will not be critical to flee Jerusalem before the approach of the signal events, so there are both similarities and differences in that respect. For Ezekiel’s hearers, the time was immediately at hand.

In my view, the temple that will be built will not host the glory, not even in the sense of forebearance. Though built again, it remains a house left desolate. The glory will fill the latter house, whereas this house is given to be desecrated and burned Isa 63:18; 64:10-11), because of the iniquity of the Land.

Though we know that none can escape the power of self delusion apart from the powerful drawing work of the Spirit, still, God justly holds Israel accountable to know better, though such knowledge would indeed be a miracle of grace. That is the paradox of covenant responsibility. But it is also why we must uphold the judgment of scripture that the final discipline is as much aimed at the religious iniquity of a Christ rejecting religious humanism as the secular sins of the impious.

It is particularly religious Judaism that is manifestly reaching its pinnacle of success when the proverbial rug is pulled out from under a religious confidence that has now reached to heaven by reason of its apparent success, to the momentary chagrin of the prophets that have warned of imminent judgment. For a moment, it will appear that all the apocalyptic doomsayers will have egg on their face.

On the one hand, it is the presence of the holy temple of God in a miraculously restored and preserved modern Israel that makes the invasion of Antichrist so much more especially provocative of God’s wrath. On the other hand, it cannot be ignored that the final discipline comes just when it appears that Judaism’s progressive view of religious man has been vindicated by God Himself through the amazing circumstance of a regained temple and sacrifice, ‘against all odds’. Significantly, it is just then that the final discipline comes to bring down and purge away this false approach to righteousness forever.

It is contrary to our humanistic approach to ethics to regard the filthy rags of a righteousness that has its source in man as equal, if not indeed greater than the common filth of human depravity for the principal cause of divine provocation. Therefore, the end of the covenant is the bringing in of an “everlasting righteousness” that is nothing of man. That is the great divide between eternal life and eternal death and the greatest point of divine contention. Wouldn’t you say? Lord grant skill and wisdom to use the acknowledged parameters of the covenant to crowd men and women to Christ.

Reggie

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You mentioned “According to Isa 28 and a number or scriptures, Jewish religious success in the Land will be at an all time high when the Antichrist strikes unexpectedly.” Isa 28 speaks of the covenant with death made by the leaders of the nation, but where does it talk about good prosperity and success during that period?

The short answer to your question as to why I expect Israel to be in a state of “euphoria” when the tribulation begins is because they are dwelling in a false security that is based on a seemingly successful negotiation with the Antichrist. For this cause, it is Israel in particular who is saying, “peace and safety” when disaster strikes.

In evident result from a false peace covenant (Dan 9:27; 11:23), and as part of the negotiations of that peace, it appears that Israel regains access to the forbidden temple mount, a circumstance nearly impossible under the present circumstance. From Isa 63:18 it appears that the Jews have only recently recovered their holy places when the Antichrist invades the city.

I discuss another reason for Israel’s relaxed guard and unpreparedness in an article I wrote called, “The Ships of Chittim.” There I show that an apparently very formidable western naval power will turn back a preliminary southward advance by the Antichrist very shortly before he invades Israel with irreistable force (Dan 11:30-31). No doubt the success of the ships of Chittim in turning back the Antichrist from his southward advance will make the security of the covenant seem invincible. Since we know that the abomination of verse 31 starts the last 3 1/2 years (Dan 9:27; 12:11), this intervention by the ships of Chittim must be very near the end of the first 3 1/2 years.

Before coming to Isa 28 specifically, I call your attention to Eze 38-39, which is undeniably eschatological. Before the redemption of Eze 39:22-29 (clearly the post-tribulational day of the Lord; see Eze 39:8 with Rev 16:14, 17), the attention of the northern invader is turned to a people only recently regathered from a long exile of “many days” (Eze 38:8). He has taken notice of the new nation’s fetching prosperity (Eze 38:10-13). Notice that the moment of invasion finds the recently restored nation in a state of presumed safety.

That this security is not the security of the millennium is made clear by the fact that Israel comes to the knowledge of God only AFTER the destruction of Gog’s armies. This is the day of the Lord (Eze 39:8, 22, 28-29). In contrast, when Satan is released at the end of the millennium to once again gather the forces of the nations, Israel has known the Lord for a thousand years. Thus, the context of Eze 38-39 is clearly pre-millennial. Evidently, John’s post-millennial reference to Gog and Magog envisions a symbolic reiteration of the great gathering of the nations to Armageddon and the great day of God Almighty (Rev 16:14-16). It appears that a further release of Satan to seduce the nations to attempt another futile assault against the camp of God’s elect is to show the resilience of a hidden depravity that only requires to be stirred by Satan. This confirms the words of Paul concerning the natural man, who is not inclined to behold the majesty of the Lord, even “in the Land of uprightness” (Isa 26:10).

So what peace is this in Eze 38:8, 11, 14? In strictly historical terms, it is the peace that Israel has enjoyed at times of relative security. This must not be confused with millennial security, as assumed by many scholars, because Eze 39:26 shows clearly that during this time of security, the nation’s sin is only increased. Therefore, the security envisioned here is BEFORE the righteousness that comes to Israel at the day of the Lord (Eze 39:8, 22, 28-29). The prophets show that every penitent Jewish survivor that enters the Land will all know the Lord and all their children after them and none will ever depart again from everlasting righteousness of the New Covenant (see Isa 4:3; 45:17, 25; 54:13; 59:21; 60:21; Jer 31:34; 32:40; Eze 39:22, 28-29 etc.)

Therefore, the peace that is in view in Eze 38:8, 11, 14; 39:26 is manifestly a false peace. This sounds very much like the language Paul uses to remind his Thessalonians that the sudden destruction of the day of the Lord is preceded by a bold declaration of “peace and safety” (1Thes 5:3). This is the deadly presumption that is presupposed in Israel’s “covenant with death and hell” in Isa 28:15, 18.

In Daniel, we see a deceitful peace arrangement with the Antichrist (Dan 8:25; 9:27; 11:23-24) that ends in an appalling act of desecration at the temple mount (Dan 11:31; 12:11; Mt 24:15; 2Thes 2:4). Israel’s everlasting deliverance immediately follows the unequaled trouble of the last half of Daniel’s final week of years (Eze 39:22, 28-29; Dan 12:1, 7, 11; Rev 11:2). It is the false peace arrangement that apparently permits Jewish access to the temple mount and the recovery of the ancient institutions of the temple service (inferred from such passages as Isa 63:18; Dan 9:27; 11:23, 31; 12:11 with Mt 24:15-16; 2Thes 2:4; Rev 11:2).

This scenario agrees very well with mention in Isaiah of a “covenant with death and hell” (Isa 28:15, 18). Now the question: Is this future? Most certainly. Partial fulfillment in the contemporary setting of when the prophecy was given can never be assumed to exhaust it of a fuller and more complete eschatological fulfillment. That is a principal characteristic of prophecy that can be demonstrated in many places. To deny this notable feature of prophecy is to side with the liberal view that prophecy can fail. To affirm it is to acknowledge that prophecy is indeed “here a little and there a little,” in the searching out of an eschatological mystery, as practiced by the people of Qumran (‘pesharim;’ see Wikipedia article) and the NT writers occupation with ‘mystery’ (Mt 11:25; 1Cor 2:7-8; Ro 16:25-26; Eph 6:19; 1Pet 1:11) in keeping with Jesus’ message of the hidden presence of the kingdom.

You rightly grant that a dual fulfillment is reasonable but not certain. I would like to move you to certainty on the basis of the following considerations:

Without doubt, the still coming, still imminent, day of the Lord has been partially realized in the contemporary invasions of the past. However, we notice that prophets of later generations continue to use the same language of imminence to describe the still future day of the Lord. So long as Israel continues in apostasy among the nations, the day of the Lord is not yet, and the curses of the covenant will continue to threaten the nation’s peace until the end. This ultimate and final fulfillment of the day of the Lord is uniformly placed at the end of a final time of national travail. Daniel is more specific, as he places it at the end of a never to be repeated unequaled tribulation that will once more center on Jerusalem.

At different times, particularly the destructions and deportations inflicted first by Assyria and later Babylon, the judgments of that coming day did indeed fall in measure upon Israel. The same can be said of Jesus’ prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. None of these historic calamities exhaustively fulfilled the prophets’ vision of the day of the Lord. This is how later prophets could continue to apply the language of earlier prophets to a later threat, also spoken of as imminent on the contemporary horizon.

It is significant that later prophets did not hesitate to employ the same language of imminence that earlier prophets had used to describe the day of the Lord that threatened the earlier generation facing the Assyrian threat. The pattern was the same. Daniel would postpone Israel’s hope to the end of a further period of 70 sevens. This is why we expect a future “time of Jacob’s trouble” of unequaled tribulation (Jer 30:7 with Dan 12:1; Mt 24:21) that will accomplish to being Jacob to the end of his power (Deut 32:36 with Dan 12:7). This time ends with the day of the Lord and the final deliverance of the long estranged covenant nation (Jer 30:7; Dan 12:1 with Mt 23:39; Acts 3:21; Ro 11:26; Rev 1:7).

That Isa 28 anticipates a more ultimate eschatological fulfillment is made certain by the language of verse 5. “In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people, …” This is the common language of the prophets for the ultimate transition from this age of Israel’s estrangement to the day of ultimate covenant fulfillment and vindication in the sight of all nations. The reason this is not so decisive for some commentators is because their system of eschatology does not lead them to expect the literal fulfillment of all that the prophets declare concerning Israel’s post-day of the Lord exaltation to theocratic headship over the nations of the millennium.

In the order of its eschatological application and more complete fulfillment, we see the overwhelming flood (Isa 28:2, 15) of the northern invader (“a mighty and strong one;” Isa 28:2, 15) and the trampling down of Jerusalem (Isa 28:18) to be looking beyond the proto-typical Assyrian to the anti-typical Antichrist of the last and unequaled tribulation. That a yet further treading down is to be accomplished upon Jerusalem is made clear in the New Testament no less than the OT (Mt 24:15-16, 21; Lk 21:24; Rev 11:2). Unlike Isaiah’s reference to “the desolations of many generations” (Isa 61:4), this time of desolation will be of very brief duration (Dan 7:25; 9:27; 12:7, 11; Rev 11:2; 12:6, 14; 13:5).

As mentioned, this will begin after Israel has returned “after many days” and have become prosperous and secure (Eze 38:8, 11-14; Dan 11:23-24). This is precisely what arouses the envy of the northern invader (Eze 38:10-13). As an aside, you may note that Gog is called a “chief prince” (Eze 38:2-3; 39:1) in the same way that Michael the archangel is called “one of the chief princes” in Dan 10:13.

As Michael did battle to remove the “prince of Persia” in Dan 10:13, 20, he will cast down Satan in the middle of Daniel’s last week, so that Satan’s full fury is released upon the earth for the last 3 1/2 years. This is why Eze 38:17 particularly, together with the relation of the Magog invasion to the false security of the first half of the week and the time that the battle ends with Israel’s national repentance at the day of the Lord (Eze 39:8, 22, 28-29), leads me to believe that Gog is Satan who will be incarnate in the Antichrist to fulfill the mystery of iniquity (2Thes 2:7).

This is just some of the evidence to that effect the invasion of Gog is the invasion of Antichrist who with sudden, unexpected, and irresistible force (Dan 11:30-31; 1Thes 5:3; Rev 13:4) will flood Israel with overwhelming armies. With this, Israel’s ill-fated covenant with death and hell will be broken and the continual sin of placing trust in man will be once more violently exposed.

This last in a long line of gentile aggressors will proceed to enter the temple of God at Jerusalem to place the appalling sacrilege that signals the beginning of desolations that will continue throughout the 42 month siege of the city (Mt 24:15-16; 2Thes 2:4; Rev 11:2). At the end of the 42 months, Jesus returns to destroy the man of sin (2Thes 2:8), gather together His elect (Mt 24:31 with 2Thes 2:1), raise the sleeping saints (Isa 26:19, 21; Dan 12:2; 1Cor 15:23, 52, 54) and to turn ungodliness from “Jacob” (Zech 12:10; Ro 11:26; Rev 1:7).

The gentile assailants of history do not exhaust the demand for future fulfillment, since some of these were seen, even by later prophets, as types of a final gentile aggressor that will descend on Jerusalem. Unlike all past invasions that left the people of the covenant in the grave of continued exile, this brief time of unparalleled world affliction will end in resurrection (Eze 37; Hos 5:15; 6:1-2) to final and enduring inheritance, a very different outcome indeed.

The language of Isa 28:12, 16 presupposes that it is the gospel itself that will be expounded to Israel by gentile witnesses (Isa 28:11). This is not merely God communicating to Israel though the foreign invader. This speaks of a prophetic witness denouncing to the scornful leaders in Jerusalem that they have entered presumptuously into an ill-fated covenant with the Antichrist. Rightly understood, this final covenant with death is just the climax and final cure of the habitual tendency of man to trust in himself. The time of probation is now expired, and in love, God must remove the false support. He can no longer tolerate this common tendency in the people of the election, particularly when this presumption is so flagrantly opposed to the clear word of all the Hebrew prophets of old.

Whether secular or religious, it is this inveterate humanism that God must oppose. Confidence in the flesh has been the bane that has exposed the covenant people across the centuries to the curses of the law recorded in Lev 26 and Deut 28-32. The reason apostate Christendom has not suffered similar things is simply because God is not in covenant with the false church that lives only in name. Only that which is the object of God’s special election is exposed to the discipline of the covenant, as also the special malice of Satan (Amos 3:2; Ro 11:29 with Jer 32:42).

The testimony that is being presented to Israel in Isa 28 is the gospel itself, as it is only the revelation of the gospel can adequately answer to the language of verses 12 and 15 (Is 28:12, 15). This is not the ‘milk’ but the meat of the Word that is coming to Israel through foolish gentiles line upon line, here a little and there a little from their own Hebrew scriptures (Isa 28:9 is clearly the background of the milk versus meat language for doctrinal maturity, as employed by the writers of the NT. I believe this is the “meat in due season,” of which Jesus spoke in the Olivet prophecy).

This will be an apologetic of compelling evidence from the prophetic writings such that will make its rejection all the more culpable by those who lightly dismiss it. Part of the offense will be that it comes to them through unqualified gentiles, since that is precisely what is meant by the idiom of the stammering tongue (Deut 28:49; Isa 33:19). So I do not see this Isaiah’s language to be exhausted by God’s pleading with Israel only through a fierce gentile invader, but He speaks to His people through witnesses of a foreign tongue through a line upon line prophetic testimony from the scriptures (this is doctrine; Isa 28:9; 29:4).

The line upon line, here a little there a little testimony of Isa 28 is manifestly the equivalent of Isaiah’s sealed instruction described in Isa 8:14-17 and sealed vision of Isa 29:11. This is the doctrine that the ‘wise’ (Heb, ‘maskilim) who instruct many during great tribulation because a sealed vision has been unsealed at the time of “the end” (Dan 11:32-33; 12:3-4, 7-11; Hab 2:3).

This sealed vision is nothing else than the OT mystery of the gospel that was revealed by the Spirit in the writings of the New Covenant. It comprehends both comings. It is much more than the Antichrist time. It includes the hidden wisdom of the cross, at which not only Israel, but the principalities and powers stumbled (Isa 8:14-15; 28:16; Mt 21:42; 1Cor 2:7-8; Ro 9:32; 1Pet 2:6, 8). It is the so-called ‘messianic secret’ that Jesus guarded throughout His ministry until the appointed time of revelation and full disclosure after the resurrection (Mk 9:9). To increase the offense, this decisive testimony comes to Israel through a “not a people” so to move them to jealousy, and a “foolish nation” so to provoke them to anger (Deut 31:17-18; 32:21; Eze 39:23).

Notice too that at the very time the “teaching” (torah) is being sealed and ‘bound up’ among a band of disciples (Isa 8:15; Mk 4:11), while the face of God is being hidden from the larger nation (Isa 8:16). So there is a notable relationship to be observed between the sealing of vision and prophecy (Dan 9:24) and the time that the face of God is no longer hidden from the nation as a whole (Eze 39:29).

According to Ezekiel, the exilic experience of the hiding of God’s face ends forever with the day of the Lord. “So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward. And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them … Then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which cause them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God” (Eze 39:22-23, 28-29).

This means that mystery that was opened to the disciples of Jesus after His death (Messiah to be ‘cut off’ at the end of the 69th week; Isa 53:8; Dan 9:26) will be revealed to the penitent survivors of Israel at the end of the unequaled tribulation. This is the mystery behind Daniel’s 70 weeks prophecy (Dan 9:24-27). The anointed Prince (Messiah) is ‘cut off’ at the end of 69 weeks; Isa 53:8; Dan 9:26. The “prince the shall come” (Antichrist) is destroyed at Messiah’s return at the end of the 70th week (Dan 7:11; 9:27; 11:45; 2Thes 2:8; Rev 19:20).

With Messiah’s post-tribulational return, all Israel will know the Lord their God “from that day and forward” (Jer 31:34; Eze 39:22; Mic 5:3-4; Hos 5:15; 6:1-2 with Zech 12:10; Mt 23:39; Ro 11:26; Rev 1:7). With the finishing of the mystery of God (Rev 10:7) at the end of the Daniel’s 70th seven, there is not a Jew living in the Land for whom the vision and the prophecy will be sealed (Isa 59:21; 60:21; Jer 31:24). It is sealed no more. The Spirit is poured out and the face of God will never again be hidden from any Jewish inhabitant of the Land (Eze 39:22, 28-28 with Jer 31:34). “From the day and forward,” the “everlasting righteousness” (Dan 9:24; Jer 32:40) of the New Covenant has come, not only for a small remnant, but for the ‘all Israel’ (the preserved third; Zech 13:9), as an entirely regenerate nation (Isa 4:3; 54:13; 59:21; 60:21; Jer 31:34), born in one day (Isa 66:8; Eze 39:8, 22; Zech 3:9; 12:10; 14:7; Mt 23:39; Rev 1:7).

So I see what I would call a ‘consummate apologetic’ of defense of the gospel coming to Israel. The context shows this to be after the false peace covenant, but before the final treading down of Jerusalem, i.e., the first 3 1/2 years. Included in the general testimony of Jesus will be specific denunciation of the pact with the Antichrist.

Notice how the transmission of this warning and prophetic witness depends on doctrinal maturity (“weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breast;” Isa 28:9). Is this not the maskilim of Daniel’s prophecy that have understanding of the sealed vision? Paul said that his gospel was “according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began,” and that the gospel now made manifest is to be “made known by the scriptures of the prophets” (Ro 16:25-26, also Mt 13:35). Paul was always interested to demonstrate that the gospel he preached, though a mystery in the past, was “none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come” (Acts 26:22). This was the apostolic ‘modus operandi’ in the evangelizing of both Jews and gentiles.

Though compelling enough to make their dismissal without excuse, the testimony that keeps coming ‘line upon line, here a little, there a little,’ will nevertheless be treated as gibberish and dismissed as unintelligible non-sense, not because it is not a formidable demonstration from the Hebrew scriptures, but because the natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit, since the many-sided wisdom of God is hidden from the pride of carnal confidence, particularly religious humanism (Lk 10:21; 18:9; Ro 10:2-3).

But when the overflowing scourge will bring the final desolation and treading down of Jerusalem (Isa 28:18; 63:18; Dan 8:13; Lk 21:21-24; Rev 11:2), the message that was despised and dismissed will speak; it will reverberate for 3 1/2 years of terrific attrition. It will be continually reiterated by a people who will share the same experience of wilderness flight and refuge. It will be a powerful witness to Israel when they will see that the anticipation and preparation of the believing remnant will be because they listened to Jesus (Mt 24:15-16, 21), Israel’s rejected Messiah.

The church that will choose to suffer with Israel will go far towards manifesting the true from the false. Now in flight from the face of Antichrist, Jews everywhere will be caused to reflect on an increasingly confirmed prophetic warning that has come to them in the weakness and foolishness of gentile witnesses that have been “weaned from the milk” (Isa 28:9). In such an eschatological context, we may think of Jesus’ charge to those in responsibility for His household to give them “meat in due season” (Mt 24:45). I can well conceive that this meat is the revelation of the mystery of thee gospel that was spoken of in the OT as Isaiah’s, Daniel’s, and Habakkuk’s sealed vision (Isa 8:14-17; 29:11; Dan 12:4, 9; Hab 2:2-3).

Finally, I may be wrong, but it appears that the drunkenness that the prophet speaks of can be shown in other scriptures, particularly ch 29 to be spiritual. However, it may well also be literal, since those who see the terror of the vision without the refreshing that the gospel brings to the justified (Isa 28:12, 16) will seek to anesthetize themselves with strong drink.

I must close for now, but I hope you will prayerfully consider the above evidence for a better view of Isa 28 than we tend to find in most commentaries on Isaiah. You can see that Isa 8, 28, 29 was background for Daniel and the apocalyptic perspective of the NT.

Yours in the Beloved, Reggie

Reggie, I’m trying to understand the fourth kingdom of Daniel 2 and the fourth beast of Daniel 7. Is that kingdom partially Rome in chapter 2 and also refer to the last kingdom where the antichrist is, or, does that kingdom exclusively refer to the last kingdom where antichrist appears?

Most conservative interpreters agree that the fourth beast is Rome. In significant contrast to the former three kingdoms, the fourth is not replaced but shows a change of form. The fourth beast is divided between east and west (the two legs) and fragmented (partly iron / strong; partly clay / weak). This suggests or implies that there will never be another kingdom after Rome that will achieve universal world dominion. Even the Antichrist, like many before him will not be successful in consolidating his conquests into complete control of all the nations. This is evident from the scriptures that show him engaged in military conflicts before and all during the tribulation, with a final revolt from many nations towards the very end (see Dan 11:31-45 with Rev 16:14-16).

So the ten kings (10 toes / horns) that give their strength and power to the little horn / sea beast (Rev 17:12) are represented as rising out of the fourth kingdom / beast at the time of the end. We might ask; do they arise within the territorial boundaries of ancient Rome or beyond? Do they arise within the eastern or western division of the Roman world or in both, with five one one foot of one leg and five on the other, geographically speaking? Some, however, make the case that strict geographical borders is not the point of the kingdoms but their generic continuance as oppressive gentile powers that are given a time (times of the gentiles) to bear a usurping sway over the divided kingdom of Israel until the kingdom cut out of the mountain without hands displaces the beast kingdoms of man.

Here is where we get help, I believe the most help, from Dan chapter 8. It would take more time than I can now invest to show all the reasons why I differ with interpreters that see the ‘little horn’ of Dan 8 as an altogether different individual from the ‘little horn’ of Dan 7. In my view, they are the same. In Dan 8 and 11, the fourth kingdom is passed over in prophetic silence and the Antichrist is depicted as rising out of one of the four divisions of Alexander’s kingdom. Dan 8:9 greatly limits the geographical options for the rise of Antichrist to a part of the Grecian kingdom within what would later become the Roman kingdom spreading itself over the Mediterranean world.

Whether Greece or Rome is the last kingdom in view, in all these chapters we must recognize a gap of time between the kingdoms of antiquity, and the Antichrist that appears at the end of the kingdom of man. In Dan 2 and 7 the gap is between Rome and the end. In Dan 8 and 11 it is between the fourfold division of Greece and the end. The Antichrist rises no less “in the latter time of their kingdom” (i.e. the four that stood up after Alexander’s fall) than out of Rome. This greatly narrows the geographical options, since Egypt is ruled out in so far that the little horn (Antichrist) is a king of the north both here and in ch 11.

According to Ezekiel’s prophecy (Eze 38:17), the Antichrist will be able to bring with him many of the nations of the Islamic world (Eze 38:2, 5-6) down against Israel. He will have a special hatred of the holy covenant (Dan 11:28, 30, 32) that grants Jewish occupational rights to the Land and city of Jerusalem and eventually to the forbidden temple mount. He is someone that comes up and become strong with a small people. This is AFTER the league made with him (Dan 11:23). This and other such passages as Ps 83; Eze 35:5; 36:5; and Obadiah incline me to look for the rise of the Antichrist somewhere within the eastern side of the Roman kingdom, but from a nation that will be smaller, at least in its beginnings, than any of the four divisions of Alexander’s Empire, since those were called, ‘notable horns’ (sizable powers), whereas the Antichrist will emerge at first as a ‘little horn,’ one that becomes strong with a ‘small people’ only AFTER the false peace arrangement. So his rise to become an irresistible military power (Dan 11:31; Rev 13:4) appears to be ‘meteoric,’ as his climb to power comes very swiftly.

This means that since Rome was the 6th at the time of John, two more beasts must come from within a later stage of the Roman kingdom, but here is the mystery. The 7th is also the 8th, because the 8th is the resurrection of the fatally wounded 7th. That is how this little horn becomes “the beast that was and is not and yet is that makes the whole world to wonder.”

It is too much to take up now, since I have written on this elsewhere, but the 8th beast is the composite beast that comprehends in himself all the former beast kingdoms (Rev 13:2; 17:11), since in him is accomplished the mystery of iniquity (2Thes 2:7), which is the full incarnation of Satan in the flesh. If he is not Islamic, it is at least certain that he will be in a position to exploit and command Islamic hatred against Israel and the whore. His hatred for the holy covenant and the Jewish people will be supreme, since that dragon who indwells him will seek the annihilation of the elect nation that must come to faith in immediate connection with his millennial consignment to the abyss.

I hope that goes some way towards helping with your question. This is probably one of those times when to answer one question raises four more.

Yours in His precious service, Reggie

 

Right Click to Download Commentary on Isaiah 28 – by Reggie Kelly (39mb)
 

Isaiah – Chapter 28:1-18

The ten kings are clearly contemporaries with the final “little horn” who emerges among the ten horns of the last beast kingdom. [Note: This ‘little horn’ (Dan 7:8; 8:9) is the self exalting prince that takes away the regular sacrifice in Dan 8:11; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11 (Compare also Mt 24:15). He is also the “willful king” (Dan 11:36-37) whom Paul calls the ‘Man of Sin’ in 2Thes 2:3-4. A comparison of the language of Dan 11:36-37 with 2Thes 2:3-4 puts beyond question that Paul has in mind the same individual that commits the desolating sacrilege in the temple of God (‘holy place’) in Jerusalem that starts the great tribulation spoken of by Jeremiah in Jer 30:7, by Daniel in Dan 12:1, and referenced again by Jesus in Mt 24:21. Without question, this great and unequaled tribulation must be future, as it begins with a specific and well described signal event (Dan 11:31; 12:11; Mt 24:15; 2Thes 2:4) and ends in nothing short of Jesus’ personal return in glory (Mt 24:29-31) and the resurrection of the righteous (Dan 12:1-2, 13).]

Therefore, since the ten toes on the feet of the metallic image in Dan 2:41-42 so obviously correspond to the ten horns of the last beast mentioned in Dan 7:24 and Rev 17:12, it can hardly be denied that the kingdom of Dan 2:44 and Dan 7:27 is ‘set up’ only AFTER the destruction of the final beast, as any fair comparison of Dan 7:11, 26-27 with Rev 19:20; 20:4-6 will show. The apocalyptic symbolism of Daniel and Revelation does not obscure the order of events. On the contrary, the time and order of the principal events could hardly be more clear. Manifestly, the thousand years of Christ’s reign ‘on the earth’ (Rev 5:10) cannot begin until the ‘first resurrection,’ and the first resurrection is identified as ‘first’ in specific connection with those saints in particular that were beheaded by the last beast of the last persecution. (compare Rev 6:10-11; 20:4-6).

This is why the denial of a future millennial reign of Christ usually goes hand in hand with a denial of a personal Antichrist and a future tribulation of unequaled severity (Dan 12:1; Mt 24:21). The amillennial system of interpretation can ill afford to grant literal and future fulfillment to the prophecies concerning Antichrist and a future great tribulation, since this would force recognition of a special divine dealing and covenanted future for the nation of Israel.

It is hardly to be denied that Paul sees a particular individual (the ‘Man of Sin’) as present on the scene when Christ returns to destroy him (2Thes 2:3, 8). He had not yet come at the time of Paul’s writing, but Paul fully expects the Thessalonians to be able to recognize him by an appalling act of self-exaltation in the temple of God at Jerusalem (2Thes 2:4 with Mt 24:15; Dan 11:31, 12:11).

This ultimate scene of covenant defiance was clearly predicted by Daniel (Dan 11:31; 12:11). Although this kind of desecration has had parallels in Israel’s past (e.g., Antiochus IV, Pompey), it is to this prophecy in particular that Jesus directs  His disciples’ attention, instructing them to “read and understand” what Daniel had said concerning this pivotal sign (Mt 24:15).

That Paul’s ‘Man of Sin’ and John’s ‘beast’ is not a reference to some ubiquitous system or principle of evil, or succession of persons, but a particular ruler that dominates the world at the time of the end is made clear when we compare the use and application of Daniel’s prophecy in Jesus (Mt 24:15, 21 with Dan 11:31; 12:1-2, 11), Paul (2Thes 2:4 with Dan 11:36-37), and Revelation (Rev 13:5, 7; 19:20 with Dan 7:11, 21, 25; 12:7).

The surrounding context of the passages from Daniel that are specifically referenced in the NT show clearly that this “coming prince” (Dan 9:26) is a ruler that rises out of one of the four divisions of Alexander’s kingdom (Dan 8:9). Before his attack on Israel (Dan 11:31), he is depicted as engaged in political strategies and military conquests throughout the region (Dan 11:23-30). Even after Israel has been overwhelmed, he continues to attack other nations and is attacked in return (Dan 11:40-45). In view of such clear and specific language, it becomes absurd to deny that the Antichrist is a definite single individual.

Regardless of the particulars, this much is clear and irrefutable: The age cannot end until this well identified and recognizable ruler is present (2Thes 2:3-5), since he comes to his appointed end by nothing less than the Word of Christ at His personal appearance in glory (Isa 11:4; 2Thes 2:8; Rev 19:15, 20-21). After his destruction, the saints possess the kingdom of God on this present earth and reign with Christ for a thousand years (Dan 7:21-22, 26-27; Rev 20:4).

Clearly, the kingdom that is in view in Daniel’s prophecy does not prevail upon the earth until AFTER the destruction of the Antichrist. Only with the final removal of all false rule do the saints possess the kingdom “under the whole heaven.” This is shown by a comparison of Dan 7:11, with Dan 7:18, 21-22, 27. However, a closer look at the scripture will show that the kingdom that is “set up” upon earth “in the days of these kings” (compare Dan 2:44; 7:24 with Rev 17:12) is the same kingdom that was first awarded to the Son of Man upon His coronation when He ascended in clouds to take His seat at the Father’s right hand (Acts 2:34-36; Heb 12:2; Rev 3:21).

Dan 7:13 says, “I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”

The Son of Man’s coming ‘to’ the Ancient of Days to be ‘brought near’ before Him (the Ancient of Days), would seem to be speaking, not of Jesus’ return, but of His victorious ascent to the right hand of God in heaven. Yet, we see Jesus applying the same language of the cloud-coming Son of Man to His return after the tribulation (Mt 24:30; Rev 1:7; 14:14). From this we see that the same One who ascended with clouds to receive the kingdom, returns with clouds (Mt 24:30; Mk 14:62; 1Thes 4:17; Acts 1:9-11; Rev 1:7) to enforce the power of His heavenly victory upon the earth with the destruction of the Antichrist (Dan 7:13; 2Thes 2:8; Rev 19:20).

Interestingly, the Son of Man is brought near to the Ancient of Days in Dan 7:13, but in Dan 7:22 it is the Ancient of Days that ‘comes’ to consume and destroy the dominion of the persecuting beast (i.e., the ‘little horn’ of Dan 7:8, 11, 20-21). Notice that the judgement is said to be ‘set’ (Dan 7:9-10, 26) at the same time that the beast is destroyed and his dominion ‘taken way’ (Dan 7:11 with Dan 7:26). Equally significant, this is the beast that is destroyed at the end of a final 3 1/2 year period of unequaled persecution (Dan 7:25; 9:27; 12:1, 7, 11).

Since the period separating two distinct advents of the Messiah was not clearly discernible until after the revelation of the gospel, we can see  in hindsight that Daniel’s vision is inclusive of the whole sweep of God’s triumph through Christ, extending from the coronation of Jesus at the time of His glorious ascent, to His return in clouds after the tribulation to destroy the Antichrist, raise the righteous, and deliver the surviving remnant of Israel (Dan 12:1-2).

Part of the puzzle of Dan 7:9-10 is the remarkable similarity of language that is used in Daniel and again in Revelation to describe distinct judgments that are a thousand years apart. In Daniel, the judgment is ‘set’  and the ‘books are opened’ when the Ancient of Days comes to destroy the Antichrist (Dan 7:11, 21-22), whereas in Rev 20:12, the books are opened at the end of the thousand years.

Either we are to understand that the books are opened twice, or, more likely, Daniel is viewing the full sweep of divine judgment without distinguishing between the first and second resurrections, since the fate of those that will be raised at the second resurrection is already sealed at the time of the Lord’s return. It is a common feature of OT prophecy to blend into a single scene events that later revelation will show to be separated by a great span of time.

We find a key to this mystery by comparing the language of Dan 7 and Rev 20 with what we find in the twenty fourth chapter of Isaiah. In Dan 7:9, the thrones of the mighty are cast down in association with the destruction of the last beast (Dan 7:11, 21-22, 26-27). The language is fascinatingly similar to what we find in Isa 24:21: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.”

The time in view is clearly the post-tribulational day of the Lord, as the entire context of Isa 24 makes abundantly clear, but notice that the judgment that is visited at this time upon the wicked does not appear to be entirely final. Look closely at Isa 24:22, and you can see a cryptic allusion to the time that John’s later Revelation will show to be the thousand years between the first and second resurrections. “And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.”

In this light, the judgment scenes of Daniel and Revelation can be seen as comprehensive of the full sweep of divine judgment that bounds both ends of the millennium. The imagery is that of a courtroom where the judge sits to pronounce the decisive verdict. But from the standpoint of Christ’s finished work, the verdict has already been passed for the believer who has “passed ‘already’ from death to life” (Jn 5:24).

The believer is depicted as ‘now’ (past tense) ascended and sit down with Christ in heavenly places (Eph 1:3, 20-22; 2:6; Col 3:1). This is already. Not yet is the promise that the overcoming believer will be exalted to sit with Christ in His throne, even as He overcame to sit down with His Father on His throne (Rev 3:21). Of course, this high station of an already secured inheritance must be vindicated in time by the life that overcomes and is not overcome. That life is Christ’s life in the believer (Col 1:27). “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory” (Col 3:4).

The language of being ‘set down’ speaks of Christ’s finished work and victorious triumph over all enemies (Heb 1:3; 2:8; 10:12-13; 12:2; 1Cor 15:24-27). This implies that it was at the ascension that the Son of Man came to the Ancient of Days (Dan 7:13 with Acts 1:9-11). By the sweet smell of His perfect obedience, He was ‘brought near’ to be enthroned at the Father’s right hand (Rev 3:21).

His triumphal ascension over all principality and power (Acts 2:34-36; Eph 1:20-21; Rev 12:5) has secured the heavenly victory by which His saints will quite literally “possess the kingdom under the whole heaven” when He returns with clouds (Mt 24:29-30; 26:64; Acts 1:9-11; 1Thes 4:17; Rev 1:7). Since “all judgment has been committed to the Son” (Mat 28:18; Jn 5:22; 1Cor 15:24), the judgement of the Ancient of Days is no less the judgment of the returning Son of Man.

Note also the remarkable statement in Dan 7:12. After the destruction of the beast in Dan 7:11, mention is made of “the rest of the beasts.” (Should we understand these to be the 10 kings that unite with the Antichrist in Dan 7:24; Rev 17:12? Or is the reference to the four beast kingdoms of Dan 7:3, 17?). In any event, at the time the beast is destroyed in Dan 7:11; Rev 19:20, the “rests of the beasts” have their dominion stripped away at the same time (Dan 7:11-12, 26), but here is what I want us to notice: “their lives are prolonged for a season and a time” (Dan 7:12).

Whatever we make of this, it is certain that there are nations that survive the return of Christ and the destruction of the beast. These are not translated with the church, but go into the millennium in natural bodies. That not all nations are always willingly compliant with the rule of heaven is shown in the reference that Messiah will rule the nations with a rod of iron.

Reggie,
I woke up this morning meditating on these verses in Zech. 14:1,2.

For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

My thinking has always been that this capture of the city of Jerusalem takes places immediately before the Lord’s return [“the day of the LORD”]. But it now appears to me that it could be speaking of what actually happens “in the middle of the week.”

Two Questions:

1. Would not this disaster take place before Antichrist “sets up” the abomination?
2. When does Antichrist “enter the beautiful land” and accomplish this taking of the city?

Bro. Phil

I share full agreement with your observation here, Phil. The prophets quite typically envision the day of the Lord as the climax of a larger crisis that is revealed in Daniel to extend for the entire last half of the 70th week (i.e., the final 3 1/2 years of Dan 7:25; 9:27; 12:7, 11; Rev 11:2-3; 12:6, 14; 13:5). That is why Daniel says, ” and unto the end of the war, desolations are determined ” (Dan 9:26).

This means the war that begins at the time of the abomination continues for 42 months unto its end at ‘the great day of God Almighty’ at Armageddon (Rev 16:12-17). In other words, Armageddon is the climax of the war that began 42 months earlier. A comparison of Dan 11:40-45 with Rev 16:12-17 will show the development of that war from its inception in Dan 11:31 till its end in the destruction of the AC in Dan 11:45.

According to Eze 38:8, 11, 14; 39:26, the Antichrist (definitely him; see Eze 38:17) comes down from the north (Dan 8:9) like a flood (Dan 9:26 with Dan 11:22) at a time of seductive false security for Israel. There is no way that one can put the battle of Eze 38 & 39 at the end of the tribulation. It certainly does end there (Eze 39:22-29, especially Eze 39:8 with Rev 16:17), but that is not where it begins. The Eze 38-39 invasion of Israel begins at a time of false security, which we may reasonably suppose is the result of the false peace covenant that Israel enters into with the Antichrist (Dan 9:27; 11:23). ((Though the language is similar, it is important that the interpreter not confuse the security of Eze 39:8, 11, 14 with the millennial security of the restored nation. Eze 39:26 is clear in showing that Israel’s sins increase during the time of this security. This stands in marked contrast to the continuous and undisturbed security that the prophets speak of as following the coming in of the everlasting righteousness at the day of the Lord — Jer 32:40; Dan 9:24 –.)) (see footnote). Evidently, Eze 38 begins with the invasion that desecrates the temple and starts the 42 months trampling down of Jerusalem and ends at Armageddon. The entire time of desolation is conceived as belonging to a single war (Dan 9:26). That’s what you’re correctly seeing here in Zech 14, Phil. It’s the comprehensive overview of the last war that ends in the day of the Lord.

There is no evidence that the Jews are welcoming the Antichrist, as some teach. He comes with force (Dan 11:31). He prevails militarily and overruns the city. According to Daniel 11:31-45, this begins a conflict that extends into the nations, but is ongoing till its end at Armageddon.

I also very much agree with your statement, ” I cannot imagine Antichrist quietly coming into Jerusalem and setting up the abomination. The security in and around Jerusalem’s old city and their holiest place is impenetrable at this point. An earlier battle of some sort must already have taken place before he sets up the image!” Exactly true. The AC enters suddenly and without warning (1Thes 5:3) at a time of security (Eze 38:8, 11, 14; 39:26; Dan 11:24). He then proceeds to the temple for the desecrating act that marks the beginning of the end. Forty two months later, the war that begins with the Antichrist invasion of Jerusalem ends with his destruction (Dan 11:31, 45; 12:11; 2Thes 2:8; Rev 11:2; 13:5; 19:19-20).

Although Satan’s ‘little season’ of Rev 20 is symbolically identified with Ezekiel’s battle of Gog and Magog, there are marked differences that demonstrate the necessity to distinguish between two similar events that bound the thousand years at both ends. This has confused many interpreters. There are many literal details that could be pointed out that plainly will not fit with a strictly post-millennial fulfillment. I will mention only one that is very clear. The invasion of Eze 38-39 clearly ends with the day of the Lord deliverance of Israel (see Eze 39:22-29). “So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward.” But when Satan is released for a little season at the end of the millennium, Israel has known the Lord for a thousand years. Hence, we conclude that Eze 38-39 and Rev 20 describe two symbolically parallel events that are distinct and must not be confounded.

Reggie

[Followup Question from another reader]
Hi Reggie,
Interesting. Then Ez.38f ends in Armagedon 42 months later, and this victory as described in Ez and Rev. is the day of the Lord. Then the Gog and Magog invasion and the wars of the Antichrist are not two different events, one having to occur before the other. Do you have more teachings on that on your website?
Thanks, J

I’ll have to check if there’s more on Ez 38-39 on the website, but I do recall sending an answer on this question to a Jewish brother who just might still have it. I can ask him and forward that on to you. It will probably be a little more detailed than what you saw in that recent exchange. It’s just one more of many such things that merit work I’ve not had opportunity and time to invest in writing a more complete apologetic for that view of those chapters.

There’s a lot out there on those chapters that is way off track. Time and grace permitting, I hope sometime to get to a more complete apologetic on those chapters. I know this: From ch 39, verses, 21-29, one could hardly wish for a more glorious theology of Israel’s day of the Lord redemption, which is shown to come with the end of the hiding of God’s face, which significantly coincides with the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit after a final assault on a newly regathered nation, only “recently” restored from the many generations of the long exile (see Eze 38:8 with Zeph 2:1-2).

This amounts to some powerful evidence against the popular replacement view that the church has now become the “new” Israel and the so-called, “redefined” people of God, with nothing left over for the natural branches except that some might come back into the church at some undefined time and manner. On the contrary, the time is clear (day of the Lord) and the manner is clear (a surviving remnant receives repentance in one day at the sight of the One whom they pierced. With this comes the pouring out of the Spirit and the end of God’s hiding His face from Israel “forever.” Thus begins the millennium). What could be clearer?!

Taken in context with other scriptures from other prophets that show the perfect correlation between the end of the hiding of God’s face with the pouring out of the Spirit at a still future day of the Lord (e.g., Deut 31:17-18; 32:20; Isa 8:17; 32:15; 44:3; 54:8; 59:21; 64:7; Zech 12:10 with Joel 2:28-32 etc.), there is much that needs to be “unpacked” in those chapters. It means that what has come to us already, as first-fruits, will yet faithfully come to them at that time (“in that day”), when “at once,” a nation will be “born in a day” (Isa 66:8; Eze 39:22; Zeph 3:9; 14:7).

Give greetings and love to all my brothers [there], Reggie

This is the word used in Da 9:27 for confirming the covenant with many. I realize this shakes up the nice comfortable nest, but what if the ‘confirming’ is of a covenant that has already been made. It’s making strong some other covenant that has already (prior to the confirming) been made; making it stronger so that it will prevail is the sense of the word. As in the waters that prevailed in the flood. The waters were already there but increased.

That’s the pure scriptural sense of the word. It may not have to be a separate covenant to be negotiated. Many things are done in private. Jesus Himself only showed His deepest secrets to those He chose. It could easily be that way with this covenant. It really doesn’t even make sense that the dirty laundry would be hung out on the line from the beginning of the covenant. I know some may not like this idea. That’s exactly why I’m asking the question. I want us to be shaken from our overly comfortable friendship with the notion that we’ve got it all figured out. And the more we rehearse the same ideas, the deeper the rut gets and the more dangerous the possibility of missing something that is there because it doesn’t fit our presumptions.

Thoughts?)) and your recent statement about the 1290 to 1335 of Daniel ((I’ve got a different scenario for the events from 1290 to 1335 that is in accord with the Hebrew calendar. It is much more orderly in my opinion.

Elul 1 til Tishri 10 40 days Moses on Sinai to get the second set of tablets.

If we look at the historical pattern and the Hebrew calendar. we will find that the month of Elul (precedes Tishrei) is traditionally a month of repentance prior to the beginning of Tishrei which inaugurates the High Holy days. Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets is the scriptural head of the year and occurs on Tishrei 1. It is accompanied by the blowing of the trumpets announcing the new year and precedes Yom Kippur by 10 days. The Feast of Ingathering (Tabernacles) takes place 5 days after Yom Kippur. The 40 days between Elul 1 and Tishrei 10 is thought to be the time that Moses went to Sinai to get the second set of tablets.

That 40 days plus 5 until the Messiah tabernacles here again makes 45 days. The difference between the 1290 and 1260 is one month in a year that has an Adar II (spring month added) as a clue about which years He was prophesying about so there could not be any mistake. A simple search will show which years have an Adar II.
Please consider these things carefully. Please.)). That way, a few of the friends who have expressed interest can follow along with what you and Phil have been discussing on these issues.

I’ve always thought that perhaps the additional 45 days might be the time that Israel goes apart to mourn until coming back together for either one of the great feasts (most likely tabernacles) or the formal cleansing of the sanctuary and re-dedication of the new temple. A friend from Israel who is now in Taiwan showed me the years that have the extra spring month (Adar II), and reckoning from that, a few select years appear as candidates for the start of a seven year period that will end in a year that has this double month at its end.

Here’s what I think about the times and the seasons. I don’t think that any amount of calculation is going to nail down any more precisely the exact time of the Lord’s return. He Himself said, of that day and hour no one knows. We know that He comes sometime shortly after the ascension of the two witnesses at the seventh angel. His coming is somewhere between the 1260 and the 1290, but probably closer to the 1260 than to the 1290, because 1290 is more nearly 43 months, since we know that the beast is cut off by His return at the end of 42 months (Rev 13:5).

Now that’s getting pretty close, but by no means a precise day or hour. Whereas much of the speculation, even though much may be accurate and glorify the Lord in His precision concerning time, still, it gets a little close, in my view, to trying to nail down the exact day, which is not the point. If not before, certainly after His return, it will be possible to look back and see how amazingly precise and how perfectly aligned the events surrounding His return were with certain of the feasts and set times. I have no doubt.

But until then, it is enough for us to know the basics for the sake of God’s purpose in our knowing, which is another discussion (see my article, “Where is God Taking the Church).

For example. Even if I was convinced that the covenant that will be confirmed is an earlier, already existing covenant (which I do by the way), and even if I thought it had been or will be confirmed in secret (which I do not), still, there will be nothing too secret about the restoration of a sacrifice that will be at the center of a new project to build the temple.

Even if the identity of the Antichrist is not at first identifiable, since he may be only one of “MANY” other heads of state that confirm this covenant (which is exactly what I expect), still, he will be soon enough manifest by what he proceeds to do “after the league made with him” (Dan 11:23) in fulfillment of Dan 11:23-31. And should even this escape our notice, still, it cannot be missed by those who believe the scriptures when this lately resurrected man goes to the temple, stops the restored sacrifice, and places the abomination of desolation to begin the tribulation. If it wasn’t clear before (and it certainly should have been), it will be clear from that point on that we are living in the last 3 1/2 years.

That at least much of this will public seems undeniably clear. Paul did not have to elaborate to his Thessalonians when he told them of the man of sin in the temple of God. It was standing at that time in Jerusalem and needed no introductions. No, this will not be done in a corner. Dan 12:10 says that none of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand. They will be seeing the same events that we see, but without understanding. It is not the events that is being hidden from the wicked, but their meaning.

Even if the seven years should happen to slip up on us (which I think unlikely), we will have opportunity to know soon enough that we are in the period by the initiatives to restore the sacrifice and build the temple. If by nothing else, that will be enough to let us know that the seven years have begun (particularly in view of what I think a correct interpretation the 2300 day prophecy of Dan 8:13, which shows the sacrifice as starting 2300 days before the end).

Finally, one more point: Scholars are divided over the proper translation of Dan 9:27 because there is a translation decision that must be made, because technically, the Hebrew can go just as legitimately either way. If one believes the Antichrist (“coming prince”) of Dan 9:26 is the proper antecedent, the verse is typically translated, “and he shall make a firm covenant.” If the interpreter is more inclined to see the sacrifice as rendered obsolete by Christ, then the antecedent for the one confirming the covenant is seen as Messiah, the prince” of Dan 9:25. In that case, the preferred translation tends to be, “and he shall make firm, or cause to prevail THE covenant with many.”

Since Dan 11:23 speaks of a league or covenant made with him (the vile person of Dan 11:21), there is support for the first translation (make a firm covenant). On the other hand, there is also support for the view that this evil prince / king (Dan 8:23; 11:36) confirms a covenant that is “holy”.

Notice that the one who makes or confirms this covenant is the same one who hates it, and has secret intelligence with others who share his hatred of “the holy covenant” (Dan 11:28, 30, 32). So I ask the question: What if this evil man is confirming with others the holy covenant? How can this be? How can this act of confirming (the / a) covenant be at once a “covenant with death and hell” (Isa 28:15, 18), since it is a “league made with him.” and at the same time it is a recognition, acknowledgement, or enforcement of a holy covenant that has been in existence since God’s election of Israel.

The larger context of Daniel is both a heavenly and earthly war against the covenant. The book is covenantal through and through. It is about exile and return. It is about delay and determinism. What is the great question of our times? It is, does Israel have divine right to the Land? I do not say that the leaders that will unite to confirm this covenant which God sees as holy will see it as divine, but I do very well conceive of them “confirming” (in the way of acknowledgement and / or enforcement) Israel’s long sought and long denied “right to exist” as an independent state.

In that sense, the covenant that is confirmed is an already existing covenant, “the holy covenant” that once and forever promised the Land to the Jews, but it becomes a covenant with death when it is made to depend on Israel’s trust in the nations, particularly the Antichrist, for its security and protection (see my article on the ships of Chittim). God has said that such covenants would be made a snare, particularly when it would have to do with dividing up a land that is not Israel’s to negotiate (Lev 25:35; Ex 34:12; Dan 11:39; Joel 3:2).

When this covenant will be confirmed, Israel will begin to enjoy an unprecedented, albeit short lived time of tranquility (Eze 38:8, 11, 14; 39:26; Dan 11:23; 1Thes 5:3), and this will be the peace lie by which the Antichrist will “destroy many” (Dan 8:25). Not long after the covenant is confirmed, the world will see, but not understand, Jewish initiatives towards restoring the sacrifice and temple worship.

As things now stand, we’re a long way from the kind of radical changes in the politics of the region that would give the orthodox Jews such access to the temple mount, and authority to sacrifice and to build their temple. That is why so many find it hard to abide a literal interpretation. But this is also one of the major reasons we who look for such radical changes in the region are inclined to look for a war of world changing proportions.

So yes, there is obviously a divinely intended puzzle here. It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the honor of kings is to search it out. But there is sufficient evidence for the least of God’s sheep to get what is of crucial importance. While some of this seems abstract and difficult, there is plenty here that is plain and knowable, and will become increasingly so as the time draws nearer. At the moment, it is enough that we put these things on the table, and ask the mercy of the Spirit to clarify or reveal what He will.

Your brother, Reggie

Hi, dear Reggie. I want to share with you some very interesting thing. It is about ships of Chittim. Look at this:

KJV-And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish for ever.
(Nu.24:24)
NASB-But ships {shall come} from the coast of Kittim, And they shall afflict Asshur and will afflict Eber; So they also {will come} to destruction. (Nu.24:24)
In Russian translation of Bible ,Tora and Tanah the word “THEY” (“So THEY also {will come} to destruction”) have to do with ships of Chittim.

I think there is a parallel with Dan 11:30 and have to do with your words:

….“In support of this view, notice that only a short while before the Antichrist launches his successful assault on Jerusalem (Dn 11:31 with Rev 13:14), he is successfully intercepted and turned back by the “ships of Chittim” (Dn 11:30; Chittim or Kittim is a term commonly associated with the maritime powers of the Mediterranean coastlands). We should note that something has happened between verses 30 and 31 THAT HAS COMPLETELY SHIFTED THE BALANCE OF POWER. (Maybe because of destruction of Chittim’s ships?)… or am I in error?

So I think all Balaam’s prophecy is very interesting…
Thanks God for His words through you!
A.

In my opinion your suggestion is not in error. Not only the ships of Chittim, but the western power (or powers) that is represented by the ships of Chittim might also come under sudden attack at the same time that the Antichrist invades Israel.

I suggested that an alliance between Israel and the nation or nations represented by this naval presence in the Mediterranean helps to explain why Israel puts its trust in a man that can stand between the Arab world and the western advocates of land for peace. We may be sure that the Islamic Arab world would never concede any part of the temple mount to Israel’s orthodox community under the present conditions that exists today. Something big has got to give!

I see more clearly something that always perplexed me. How would Israel come to put its trust in a single man who will rise from the eastern half of the Roman world, out of one of the four divisions of Alexander’s kingdom, according to Dan 8:9? There would be the danger of divided loyalties to say the least. Seeing the relationship that the ships of Chittim apparently has to the guardianship of the peace has put it all in perspective for me. I see now that it is not so much the Antichrist (the vile person of Dan 11:21) that Israel trusts; it is the US. or some such powerful alliance of nations who will stand as guarantor and protectorate of the peace. In that way, Israel can dare to negotiate her otherwise “indefensible borders” in exchange for peace and international guarantees of protection.

We may be sure that the Islamic Arab nations will not be happy to recognize Israel’s right to statehood. There must be some great change to bring them to the table. Any Arab and Islamic recognition of Israel will come reluctantly if at all. The Antichrist only pretends to support the covenant. He hates it; as does the many with whom he secretly conspires for its destruction (Dan 11:27-30). So it is reasonable to infer that something big has got to happen in the region that will radically change the face of Middle East politics, as shown by the recent speeches by Mahmoud Abbas and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the UN general assembly. They were quite loud in their sworn promise to never recognize Israel’s right to exist. For the covenant to be confirmed, we may be sure that there must be a massive shift in the politics of the region, since under the current conditions, the Arab world will never tolerate Jewish reclamation of any part of the forbidden temple mount. I have always supposed it will require nothing short of war for the present political state of affairs to change THAT dramatically.

If the current balance of world power continues to the end, the ships of Chittim would be the US, and possibly a league of nations (the covenant is confirmed “with many”). These will be the “guarantors” of the peace that permits Israel to proceed with its plans to build the temple and start the daily sacrifice that the Antichrist will stop in the middle of the week (Dan 8:11; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11). Notice also that this sudden invasion of Jerusalem is against what Daniel calls, “the holy covenant” (Dan 11:28, 30). This is the covenant that I believe was “confirmed” (not made or created, but the word means to strengthen or cause to prevail) in Dan 9:27. I believe the covenant of Dan 9:27 is not merely a peace arrangement, but it is the same “holy covenant” referred to in Dan 11:28, 30. It is therefore a covenant that already exists. It is not “made;” it is “confirmed.” Dan 9:27 is not properly translated, “and he shall make a firm covenant with many,” but rather, “he shall make firm THE covenant (i.e., the “holy covenant”) with many.

Confirmation of this holy covenant necessarily includes a dangerous “league” (alliance or agreement) with the Antichrist (Dan 11:23). This will be the false peace (Dan 8:25; 11:23-24; Eze 38:8, 11, 14), the “agreement with death and hell” (Isa 28:15, 18) that will permit Israel and the unbelieving world to so presumptuously declare “peace and safety!” (1Thes 5:3). We may imagine that if Israel was saying “peace and safety” at the beginning of the peace treaty, they will be saying it now even more confidently than ever after the ships of Chittim have so successfully intervened. This mighty demonstration of force will greatly reassure Israel and her friends just how invincible this peace really is that permits Israel’s return to the institutions of the holy covenant. No doubt, many that hold an optimistic view of Israel’s future will feel very vindicated in their rejection of the prophetic warnings of imminent calamity (see Isa 28). But the proverbial rug is about to pulled out to the shock and astonishment of all who have put their trust in man.

[Note: It is not the secular world that will recognize the covenant as holy. That is God’s view of Israel’s right to the Land and to the temple mount. Some nations (certainly the ten) will “hate the covenant and conspire against it” (Dan 11:27-28, 30-31). On one side, the covenant is holy, because it recognizes Israel’s right to the Land and city, particularly the controversial temple mount. But on the other hand, it is also a covenant with death and hell, because of Israel’s trust in man as its security and guarantor.]

I pointed out that in the space of just one verse (Dan 11:30-31), the ships of Chittim that were able to successfully repulse the southward advance of the Antichrist (a man that in the very next verse will hold the entire world ransom by his military and economic dominance). In the very short time contemplated between those two verses, something has happened that has nullified the mighty power of the west. What is it? In Dan 11:30 the ships of Chittim turns back the Antichrist. In the next verse he goes with irresistible force to the temple to stop the sacrifice and place the abomination that starts the tribulation (Dan 11:31; 12:11 with Mt 24:15-16, 21; 2Thes 2:4; Rev 11:2; 13:5). What has happened in such a short space of time? That is the question I have not heard any commentator ask, even among those few who reject the common view that all of this was fulfilled in antiquity.

In Dan 11:30 the Antichrist is either unable or unwilling to challenge the might of the ships of Chittim. This leads us to ask, what has happened between verses 30 and 31 that can explain such a sudden and massive shift in the balance of world power? Well, for one thing, this man has just risen from the dead by reason of the healing of the mortal wound (Rev 13:3, 12). After his ascent into the abyss, he ascends as “the “beast that was, and is not, and yet is” (Rev 17:8, 17). The resurrection of the beast (‘man of sin’) fulfills the mystery of iniquity that is necessary before Jesus can return (2Thes 2:3, 7-8). Also, this now risen ruler has secured the backing and support of that host of gentile nations mentioned in Eze 38:2, 5-6 and also Ps 83.

So what happened to the western power that had so lately flexed its military muscle and turned back the very man who in such a short while is to become the dominant military power who will control the economy of the world? I believe something more serious is implied than merely a strategic move that takes the west by surprise and cuts off their ability to interfere with his plans against Israel.

I believe the US and its allies may be among those whom Ezekiel describes as “those who dwell carelessly in the isles” (Eze 39:6). Although the fire is sent from God, it is no contradiction if that fire should come through the agency of the ten kings allied with the Antichrist, who “hate the whore and burn her flesh with fire” (Rev 17:6). This will certainly be fulfilled when the Antichrist attacks Jerusalem, but when pondering these passages, the thought occurred that this fiery judgment could also extend to the supporters of Israel, the ships of Chittim. Who is to say that at the same time the Land of Israel is being flooded with the deadly foe, the complacent west is not receiving a fiery judgment by a sudden and unexpected nuclear strike on its principal cities? It is chilling thought, but I think true.

So at the very same time that Jerusalem is being suddenly and unexpectedly attacked, so also is the complacent, and equally unsuspecting west who have supported and even promised protection for the deadly peace arrangement with an Antichrist, by the presumptuous pressure that the west has put on Israel to exchange land for peace, land that God said is not Israel’s to negotiate, because it is His (Ex 34:12; Lev 25:23).

So much appreciate you dear brothers and the knowledge that you have covenanted to remember us in your prayers. Reggie

“One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast…” Rev. 13

Have you been given any revelation on the timing of this event? It must take place during the first 3 ½ years but I’ve been thinking that it must happen near the very end of that first 3 ½ year period when this “bad guy” is dealt with and there will probably be a rejoicing that he is brought to his end…

I agree with you, that it will be very near the end of the first half of the week, very close to the time of the abomination that begins the last half. I’ve been quite impressed with all that has to happen between verses 30 and 31 of Dan 11. This is one more of those things.

Sometime after the Antichrist is turned back by the ships of Chittim, he is killed. It appears that he is raised quite soon after the mortal wound. That is why the whole world marvels when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

At this wonderment, many things will fall into place quickly to make for a successful and unopposed assault on Jerusalem (“arms stand on his part, … who can make war with the beast”). In a moment I’ll come to why I say his assault on Jerusalem is unopposed. Within this small gap of time, from the time that he is intercepted by the ships of Chittim and the unopposed invasion of Jerusalem, something huge has happened to change the balance of world power, not least his resurrection (which we see as the revelation of the mystery of iniquity in the incarnation of Satan in this man. He now has “all” the power of Satan [2Thes 2:9]. Whereas before, he was ‘an’ antichrist; at this point, he becomes ‘the’ Antichrist).

Up to this point, he has been working, through regional conquest, stealth and intrigue (e.g., “these two kings shall speak lies at one table” etc.) to build up support for his planned war against the covenant (Dan 11:23-28). I see these intrigues and secret conspiracy against the covenant, as taking place among other nations, particularly those in the region that share with him a mutual hatred of the covenant (e.g., the ten kings). Sometime after he has ben repulsed by the ships of Chittim, he rises from the dead. Now, the support that he has been working to build comes fully and fatally into place for the overwhelming of Israel, only this time, no one is able to stop him.

From this we can detect that something major has happened to cut off the ability of the western power to anymore protect Israel, since now, “who can make war with the beast?” This, while other nations helplessly look on and protest, “Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?” (Eze 38:13).

What has happened between verse 30 and 31? That is a question worthy of our sober consideration, as it will greatly assist a more accurate picture of how things will unfold. For my part, I’ve always believed that the complacent west may well be, in some way, “hit” at the same time that Jerusalem is invaded. “These (the ten kings) shall hate the whore (Jerusalem and the west?) and burn her flesh with fire”. It is well to remember that the ten kings who despise the holy covenant (Dan 11:28, 30), not only hate the ‘little satan’, but also the ‘great satan’.

Remember too, that while the territory of Rome embraced nearly all of the middle east, according to Dan 8:9, the final little horn, who will have the backing of the ten kings, comes particularly out of one of the four divisions of Alexander’s less expansive empire. How do we reconcile this? This suggests that this little power that comes up “after” the ten, is possibly a new formed power, much closer to home. The little horn comes down upon Israel from the north, just how proximate this northern location is to the Land is an open question, but there is evidence in Dan 11 that is very near. In the case of Antiochus Epiphanes, the great proto-type of the Antichrist, it was Syria.

In any event, it seems especially significant to me that the scripture says, this man “comes up and becomes strong with a small people” (Dan 11:23). [One brother], whom I’m hoping we’ll see at this year’s conference, has suggested that the ‘small people’ in view here, could well have reference to the new state of Palestine within the present borders of Israel. It is certainly a proposal worth having on the table if we want to consider the full range of possibilities. This is no time to be dogmatic or prematurely conclusive, but there are mysterious nuances between the relationship of the emphasis on Rome in Dan 2 and 7, and the Grecian kingdom in Dan 8 and 11. Dan 2, 7 and 9 leap from Rome to the end, while Dan 8 and 11 leap from the division of Alexander’s kingdom to the end. This has been too little considered by most of the interpretations that I have seen. We may expect such riddles to become much more clear as the time draws nearer (Dan 12:4, 9).

The Jews will realize they’ve been deceived and betrayed; that’s true, but not because the Antichrist has deceived them religiously. I don’t think that’s the nature of the case. No, this “bad guy” is someone who can stand somewhere between the Islamic world and the humanistic west. I don’t think this is someone who can pass as an orthodox Jew, or Messiah figure, deceiving other orthodox Jews. There may indeed be such a figure involved, but I don’t think this fits the description of the vile person of Dan 11:21. I just don’t see that in the text, particularly when the larger context is considered, which many commentators unjustifiably fail to consider as still requiring a future fulfillment.

All is to say, I don’t think Israel will trust this man so far as we suppose. They are not so much trusting him, as the strength of the peace arrangement that is backed by the nations. He may even be the most significant, but still, he is only one of the players in this covenant that will be confirmed with “many” (Dan 9:27). I think it is unwise to conclude that the “many” only has reference to the leaders of Israel. It may very well have reference to a considerable number of other heads of state that are pledged to stand behind the covenant. I believe Israel is putting a fatal trust in the west, if not indeed most particularly the US, as guarantor of this ill-fated peace.

That’s what I’m seeing, as represented by the reference to the ships of Chittim, which at the time of Daniel was shorthand for the maritime powers of the northwestern Mediterranean coast lands. The Jews saw this as reference to Rome. In today’s world, it would have reference to a naval presence in the Mediterranean, not strictly Italy, of course, but certainly representative of the expansive Roman world, which has extended to include many more nations since that time. In prophecy, Rome is, in some sense, still the prevailing world power in the days of the ten kings.

This is how I see the AC, as being opposed by some western alliance that has sufficient strength to successfully repulse his southward advance. Evidently, this is a reaction to what will be regarded as a threat to the peace league (Dan 9:27; 11:23). This show of force only strengthens the false security of Israel and the west. If they weren’t saying it before, they are now saying with ever greater assurance, “peace and safety.” I would venture to say that the church that has not been awakened by this late point, is about to be manifested as the church of the great apostasy.

This means that so late as very near to the end of the first half of the week, there will be a power that can still successfully check the advance of the AC, who, by this time, is already a formidable power. This suggests that whoever we take the ships of Chittim to represent, they are, at this late point, a considerable force. We know this, because the man that is about to go down to Jerusalem after his resurrection to declare himself God in the temple, must himself be the commander of an already considerable force, which in just a short time, right after his resurrection, will be able to seize Jerusalem with a completely irresistible force.

This means that between verse 30 and 31, a massive change has occurred in the balance of world power. This change and its character and nature merits prayerful attention, as we consider the role of the U.S. in its strong inducements and support of Israel’s negotiations of land for peace (i.e., the dividing of the Land (Dan 11:39; Joel 3:2)). Not OK!

Though a digression from your question, I wanted to take the opportunity to point this out about the strategic role of the ships of Chittim, since I believe this is what the Jews are ultimately trusting. Of course, it is man, but in this case, it is particularly the western alliance that has guaranteed the peace.

I believe this is an important aspect of the particular form that the deception will take. Israel’s misplaced trust will be most especially in the presumed ability of the west to hold in check the angry dissidents against the covenant (Jewish access and building on the temple mount will be a slap in Allah’s face. The Antichrist will know how to exploit this indignity to the max).

This is the deadly false trust that will embolden Israel to risk a peace that many in the Islamic world will only very reluctantly recognize. Until the moment of strategic opportunity, the AC will work deceitfully, forecasting his devices against the strongholds (Dan 11:24).

As we’ve mentioned often, it is these often neglected, and admittedly difficult “details of Daniel” that will prove so VERY significant for how the church will see the first half of the week, which is so strategic for its preparation for its final witness. All is designed of God to crowd us to a place of ultimate urgency of intercession, obedience, and fullness. This will be key to what happens in the heaven, for the casting down of Satan by the agency of Michael, which permits the revelation of the man of sin, and the finishing of the mystery of God. The middle of the week is the great turning point. That is why the first half is so strategic for the church. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!

Yours in the Beloved, Reggie

A complete session of the Video from September’s “People Prepared” Convocation on Daniel Chapter 9 is now available on YouTube. A direct link is found below:
Chapter Nine (click/tap here if you see nothing below)

This session is listed on the Convocation page as:

Saturday Evening – Daniel the Prophet – Ch. 8 (MP3 audio) – Reggie Kelly & Phil Norcom
“In the third year of Belshazzar’s reign”

For your convenience the playlist for Chapter 8 is embedded here:

Chapter Eight (Click here if you see nothing below)

Chapter Seven (Click Here if you see nothing below)

Chapter Two (Click Here if you see nothing below)

Links to the Part 1 Video of each for three uploaded chapters is found below:
Chapter Two
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight

This suggests to me that the Antichrist will recognize what the PLO and others have always denied, namely, Israel’s right to exist in their Land. But notice, the Antichrist’s violation of the “holy covenant” is divinely regarded as the ultimate affront against God (fury comes up in His face; Isa 34:8; Ezek 38:18; Joel 3:2 over the ‘controversy of Zion’). We need not to affirm the truth of this; we need to ask and to show why. We need to show the theology that underlies this divine contention that sweeps all nations into a divinely “valley of decision”.

These disputed passages (Dan 11:21-35) are particularly decisive in showing that the “land” and other ordained institutions (temple and sacrifice), do indeed matter. They are still called “holy” (Mt 24:15). They still represent the set apart things of God. The NT hasn’t changed their significance, but only interpreted the mystery that they always signified and typified in them. The future context of these passages are decisive in showing that the land and the temple area are not mere “real estate”, but holy and set apart, Jewish unbelief notwithstanding. Again, it is the issue of unconditional election, of deeply contested divine rule and authority.

Certainly, in God’s sight, Jewish unbelief and God’s resolve to bring the nations down in covenant chastisement, does not make them “fair game” for the nations. When will our theologians take note that this is not God’s usual response to aggressions between nations? When the Antichrist brings his ten nation crew against Jerusalem, something called “covenant” and the “Word of God” has been fatally transgressed. It is the ultimate provocation. A host of scriptures show that. Manifestly, something of the sacred boundaries have been crossed. Jews matter! The Land matters! The status of Jewish faith, and the absence of the Shekinah glory, does not make the temple any less the temple of God (2Thes 2:4). Through pride, the nations have gone too far. From this point on, ‘the game is afoot’, the final tribulation has come.

Where the nations are concerned, there has been the ultimate presumption. Something holy has been violated. On the Jewish side, the euphoria of apparent success, which is based upon a false presumption concerning the nature of righteousness (the age old stone of stumbling), is met with ultimate divine rejection and chastisement. For the Jews, it will be the ultimate toppling of all their trust in man to become righteous apart from the miracle of regeneration.

While there is much prophetic affirmation of these things based simply on the literal reading of prophecy, these questions are not being asked or considered by either side in terms of their covenant context and background. One reason is because, these particular passages (Dan 11:21-35) are dismissed as already fulfilled, and are therefore ignored for their decisive influence on the question of Jewish “right” to the land, since a context of future tribulation (as we believe) would settle the issue with finality.

It is the Antichrist’s violation of this ‘holy covenant” that marks the point of no return for all nations that are brought into the “controversy of Zion”. Ironically, our best and most ‘Christ-centered’ evangelical leaders are denying the very thing that the Antichrist will “confirm”, namely, Israel’s right to the Land (perhaps even “divine right”?). What’s wrong with this picture?

However, if these scriptures can be exegetically vindicated as NECESSARILY future, then who can deny that the land and the holy places are counted as “holy” and set apart, despite Jewish unbelief? Whereas, there is no hope apart from personal regeneration, Paul shows that Jewish enmity against the gospel does nothing to nullify or modify their elect status as a nation, God’s beloved prodigal among the nations (Amos 3:2). Why can’t this simple distinction be made? National corporate election and a predestined future guarantees nothing for the individual, but everything for the nation, considered as a corporate entity.

Orthodox Jews are as aware as any in the church that only a remnant will be saved. The only difference is who are the remnant? And what constitutes the basis of that distinction? All agree that is the answer is easy and simple: It is righteousness, of course. Yes, but righteousness of what kind? And that ultimate question can only be discussed and defended intelligently, as the church comes to understand the nature and history of the covenant, both in demand and in promise. Our present understanding poorly equips us for a ready and prepared conversation with Israel.

But back to my point. You can see what I’m saying, can’t you? I’m saying that if the holy covenant of Dan 11:28, 30, can be shown to be future, then who can say that Jewish unbelief disqualifies them from a right to the Land? From what I’ve been hearing from evangelical leaders, a modern aggression against Israel has no more significance than any other war among nations. One recently said that the land dispute in Israel had no more “divine” significance than a border dispute between Uruguay and Paraguay.

This seems far from what we read in scripture. If the nations are not covenantally obligated to recognize Israel’s existence in the Land, as something more than the product of mere Jewish aspiration, then why is this called a wicked hatred of the “holy covenant”? Why is violation of the covenant counted as the ultimate crossing of the line that brings the age and the entire history of the covenant to its fore-written, divinely ordained conclusion? Regardless of how much it transcends human understanding, or insults our evangelical presuppositions, there it is; it is Scripture!

Even our own brethren, who agree with us in nearly every particular, reduce the modern return to an ill fated and reckless Jewish preoccupation with the Land. Some ascribe the modern miracle to ancient “Zionists ambitions” that have no meaning except to incur the wrath of God against. They hasten to point out that even some rabbis take this view. It is assumed that any judgment that comes to the Jew, comes most especially because he is in a land where he shouldn’t be, so that judgment for returning to the Land before the Messiah comes is all the more deserved.

I know deeply in my spirit this is a very wrong way to look at the situation. Certainly, the Jew has no claim on God apart from Christ, and who of us don’t “deserve” the fruits of our sin? But God has brought Israel back, not only for judgment and severity, but also for mercy. He has also brought them back to the Land to deal with the pride of the nations in their natural contempt for His covenant election. God’s name, as distinctly the “God of Israel,” signifies the God that elects, and that has always been a primary bone of contention with the principalities and powers, as it is with the flesh.

No, although many dreams combined with unspeakable horror to inspire and constrain a mass return, the existence of Israel is no mere human result. God was in it all. Although the present return is in unbelief, as foretold, it is no less by the hand of God. Certainly, not in the sense that His hand will be supernaturally raised in their final and permanent return after the tribulation, but I believe we would be wrong not to see the measure of ‘probationary’ mercy that was granted in their return.

This explains such a passage as Ezek 39:26, which shows that this probationary return provided a further test that was failed in order to drive home the point that Israel will not be able to conform to God’s righteousness until the time appointed. A measure of security in the Land after the long exile actually magnifies the offense, because Israel did not use the occasion to repent and fully turn to God. Rather, their sins only increased in the time they dwelt safely. This is the strength of the prophet’s indictment against them.

Final and secure possession of the Land, of course, remains in constant jeopardy until the issue of righteousness is forever settled. That is the Jewish side of the contention. So we can respect that this is a closely nuanced issue. We are searching out a mystery of divine strategy against principalities and powers, and such that is calculated to expose the thoughts of many hearts. But these particular scriptures, together with others that are equally ignored, leave no doubt that even an unbelieving Israel is yet regarded as “off limits” where God’s contention with the nations is concerned. In the sense of beloved and set apart, they are holy even BEFORE they are holy. Jacob is loved, even BEFORE he is Israel.

In this way, the covenant becomes the great test for the church, as well as the nations, because it is preeminently Jew centered and Land centered. This tests the heart concerning its attitude towards election, and ultimately grace itself. Of course, Jesus is evermore center-most in all this. He is, in that sense, God’s last word. But until the mystery was revealed of His twofold advent, the incarnation, atonement, and resurrection in the midst of history, was the more hidden side of the covenant. It belonged to a hidden wisdom until the set time (1Cor 2:7-8).

This revealed secret indeed solves the dilemma of the covenant that demanded a righteousness that was beyond human ability to attain. The messianic righteousness is “wholly apart and wholly other”; It is found only in Him. Granted, the salvation of Jesus is the “without which not” of any hope of salvation, so that to put it on the ‘back burner’ in our relations to extending mercy to Israel, is, as these authors rightly point out, absurd in the extreme. However, it is equally absurd to make the issue of the Land a non issue. It begs a serious ignorance of the covenant to say that Israel “may” (?) fulfill a biblical covenant. Next, only to Jesus, is the centrality of the covenant with Israel that has come to the church through revelation of the mystery, but remains fully intact, with nothing changed in its promises UNTO THEM (Ro 11:27), with its inalienable designations concerning a set apart land and people.

I have some important differences with Wilhelm Vanderhooven, but I agree with him that the Land is not Israel’s to negotiate. The Land is the Lord’s. You can’t blame a Jew for believing that. It’s the Word of God. The Land is given on the basis of God’s right to give what He will to whom He will, even BEFORE the heir of promise is made fit through the further work of predestined grace. Otherwise, many times throughout Israel’s history, the Land could never have justly called “their Land” on that basis, simply because they were seldom ever sufficiently righteous to remain in the Land. Yet, it was always called “their Land”. Lasting peace was always an eschatological hope, bound always to the promise of an “everlasting righteousness (Dan 9:24; Jer 32:40)’.

But I strongly disagree with Vanderhooven that God will not permit another Holocaust. Rather, He is covenantally pledged to send it. The Land remains in covenant jeopardy until the “coming in of the everlasting righteousness” at the end of the 70th week. Then “all Israel” will know the righteousness that was revealed to the church (godly remnant) at the end of the 69th week, due to the unexpected revelation of the mystery of Christ’s atonement and twofold appearing to Israel.

I think the issue of Jacob’s trouble is the missing hermeneutical key, but Jacob’s trouble is not only about Jesus, but the covenant that forms the context of the divine contention that is only answered in the apocalyptic revelation of Jesus, as “the Lord our righteousness”. Factor these considerations, as you read the articles, and let me know what you think and how we should proceed to address this and find that grace of balance between extremes, each with legitimate points, but which both miss the mark. reggie

Dear Reggie,

Keep up the good work. Your last on Daniel is very helpful. If I understand your view of the unfolding of endtime events, a powerful, charismatic leader will arise who will temporarily “solve” the Middle East problem. He will settle the Palestinian dispute by ceding to Israel the right to rebuild the temple. The time of false peace will be 3 ½ years. At the end of that time the leader will show his true face [or, as you suggest, die and be resurrected and inhabited by Satan], turn against Israel, set himself up in the temple, and begin worldwide persecution against Jews and Christians. This time of Great Tribulation, of Jacob’s Trouble, will last 3 ½ years and Christ will return. I’m leaving out of my summary your useful teaching about the Church’s intercessory role. I hope that’s close to what I read. If so, I agree totally.

However, I found something that puzzles me. I’m so gun shy of the Manifested Sons of God heresy that any time someone mentions Woman and Manchild in Rev. 12, my watchdog genes go into action. Please forgive me in advance for my obtuseness.

We’ve settled in the past that you don’t teach the Manifested Sons of God doctrine (MSOG) or believe the man child to be some elite group of nearly-immortal overcomers, but some things in your last email echoed that doctrine. Instead of comparing Mary and Christ (Mary as the godly Jewish remnant) to the Woman and Man Child, you jump right to the seed of the Woman (man child) and don’t explain who the Woman is in Rev. 12. Can you help me on this? You wrote:

“Just as the figure of the woman is much more comprehensive than Mary, so also does the figure of the man child point beyond its primary fulfillment in Jesus.”

[Here’s where my discernment reflex said, Uh oh! No hint of manifested sons here, is there? It is rather a new place of intercession in the heavenlies by the entire remnant Church. Right? So if the Remnant Church is the Manchild, who is the Woman? Are we speaking of a number within the remnant church, say an elite group of overcomers? I don’t think you mean that!

No, not at all. I’m saying that God intends to use the pressures and constraints of circumstance, as well as the eye opening, heart enlarging, goads of inspiration and time related truth, to bring His people to fullness of sanctification. Many that are currently under great siege and conflict through the accuser, through their minimal grasp of the gospel. God will not stop short with the church any more than He will stop short with Israel. He got His man on the Damascus road; He will get His nation when the Deliverer comes out of Zion at the end of Jacob’s trouble (Ps 102:13; 110:3; Isa 59:21; 66:8; Jer 30:7; Dan 12:1; Zech 3:9; 12:10); and He will get His Bride ready, not in the part but in the whole. The seed of the Spirit will be brought to full maturity and the rest will fall away. That said, however, it is no division of the true church of God to expect that not all who are appointed for translation at the last trumpet will come to this fullness at the same time. I fully expect a vanguard body that will be deeply processed by things not yet known by all the body. They will be a Joseph ‘go before’ company. This implies no superiority through a works oriented, “self-sanctification,” as in many of the ‘overcomer’ and manifested son theologies. God simply has some sons that are more prepared at a given time to go before the many that will follow after. They will not begrudge those that come in at the last, since it is for their sake that they suffer (2Tim 2:10).

Just as Mary represents the godly remnant, that gives birth to the male seed of the woman in fulfillment of Gen 3:15, [I would have written so the Woman represents such and such] and the ascension of the man child signifies the place that His seed have in Him beyond Satan’s reach, “far above all principality and power” (Eph 1:21; 4:10).

[Aren’t we already seated with Christ there?] However, the redemption fully accomplished in Christ as head of the church is only the first-fruits of the eschatological salvation… [Again, who is the Woman in this analogy? This analogy doesn’t work for me. Boy this sounds like MSOG! Help!]

We are indeed sit down in Christ’s finished work, but what is meant here is that God will facilitate our fuller apprehension through the constraints and inducements He has ordained for the corporate body. In principal and pattern, it is the macrocosm on a corporate scale of the same sanctifying process that God brings to the individual believer. The mystery of incarnation does not terminate with Christ, but continues in jars of clay, albeit, only by the measure (Jn 3:34; 1Cor 12:11). Ordinary believers will shine forth in the day of testing. It is nothing more than the fuller corporate manifestation and demonstration of “this mystery of Christ in you”. As in the case of Job, God has a statement to make through His church. Certainly, He has once and again made this statement through His martyr witness people. But, as He said to Jesus, “I have glorified my name, and will glorify it again”. I am saying that God is not finished glorifying His name through the church. That is all I mean to suggest, since there is nothing higher.

The ascent of the man child, represents the secure first fruits of the covenant promise, which has set into irreversible motion the coming salvation of ‘all Israel’, the final goal of the covenant. In this view, Jesus is the head of the corporate ‘seed of the woman’, so that His birth and ascent can be seen as the primary fulfillment of a larger pattern. This pattern is repeated by a future travail of the woman that more immediately precedes the great tribulation of the last 3 1/2 years.

[I’m trying to fit the Woman into your analogy. Is she also the godly remnant here? If so, who is the man child? I’m confused. I’m sure you’ve answered this and I missed it. I’m pretty sure you think of the man child as the entire remnant church: “In this view Jesus is the head of the corporate ‘seed of the woman. But now I’m not so sure.]

It is not critical to the more important parts of our view, but I see the seed of the woman as the Word of God. Certainly, this Word was perfectly incarnated in only the one ultimate ‘Seed of the woman’. However, all who were “born again of that Word” (1Pet 1:23), in any age, were indwelt by “the Spirit of Christ” (1Pet 1:11) are part of the corporate seed of the woman. Rev 12:17 speaks of the ‘remnant’ of the woman’s seed. These are believers in the tribulation. Dispensationalism’s view that the church cannot be on earth at this time, limits this reference to Jewish believers that have come to faith after the presumed pre tribulational rapture of the church. On the other hand, if this has reference to the church in the tribulation, it shows that the the figure of the woman is comprehensive of both Israel and the church. The heavenly woman includes the full scope of God’s redemptive purpose to bring Israel back under the bond of the covenant (Ezek 20:33-34, 37). This begins with  the church and ends in the salvation of ‘all Israel’ in the coming day of the Lord It is not limited to Israel. Even before Israel was distinguished as the seed of Abraham, the woman’s seed existed in Enoch and Noah, as the believing seed of the Word and Spirit. The woman’s “pre-tribulational” travail appears to repeat the pattern of Mary and Jesus, but the order and proximity of events seem to defy putting the fulfillment entirely in the past. Significantly, the imagery passes over the life and death of Christ, focusing only on the birth and ascension. In the context of Rev 12, the woman appears to flee immediately upon the catching up of the man child. This does not appear to be a picture of the entire inter-advent period, as in some interpretations. The post-travail, post-ascension, flight of the woman is particularly concerned with the last 3 1/2 years, which we know to be the time of the great tribulation that particularly focuses on God’s concluding work with Israel (Jer 30:7; Dan 12:1; Mt 24:21). This suggests that the symbolism is not meant to be confined to the events of the first century. Therefore, it is not a breach of orthodoxy to infer that the birth of the man child, in this context, might imply a future fullness of perfection in love that will be birthed in the true remnant of the Spirit (the maskilim), who will deeply processed by these events in the light of revealed truth, particularly Daniel.

We sing the song, “Christ come forth in me.” That is good theology. It doesn’t mean He’s not already there; it means we long that He “come forth” in fullness and power, which invariably requires a deeper death to the veil of self. So the woman is a symbol of all the generation of the Spirit in all ages, including the elect nation that is destined to be united to Christ. The man child is the perfection of the woman’s seed. However, in view of the context and order of events in Rev 12, I am suggesting that the ascension of the man child that so immediately precedes the tribulation may imply a future fullness of Christ that is birthed through a divinely ordained process of sanctification, i.e., the preliminary events leading up to the tribulation. It is altogether reasonable to consider that God has something unfinished with the church that is brought to a perfection of maturity of love and faith BEFORE He completes His purpose to bring Israel into final oneness with the body of Christ. In this sense, we can expect that when the church has completed its participation in Michael’s victory over the accuser, the saints who have been part of that process will possess their possessions, in the sense of an unhindered clarity and freedom in Christ. They are apprehending nothing other than what has always been the “yea and amen” of God’s promises “in Christ”, only now in complete freedom from any residual blockage or hindrance of the veil of the flesh that permits Satan an illicit measure of access to the consciences of the holy brethren.

Allow me to summarize of a little of what I’m trying to say and what I’m definitely NOT saying:

Firstly, I give no concession to the manifested sons theology that divides the church into multiple raptures and elite companies. Wherever God is taking the church, He is taking all the church, provided it is true. I am committed to the maxim of scripture that says, “whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world …” It must overcome, because it is born of God. It is the indwelling seed of Christ in the believer who is the real overcomer, and “God is able of these stones to raise up children …”, so that none can boast.

But what is what and who is who is only revealed by the day of testing. The falling away will reveal the tares that for so long could not be distinguished from the wheat. I do see, however, a greater sanctification coming to the true body of Christ. This is not a division between overcomers and undercomers; it is a manifestation of what’s true and real, because the true and real will be able to follow the Lamb wheresoever He goes, whereas, the false will be exposed by the test. There may be some saints that have more light for a season than others that are equally true saints, but in due course all that is true will be gathered and all that is false will be exposed. Of course, that is not perfect and final until Christ’s return, but there will be much to both confirm and expose in the tribulation, and even the time leading up to the tribulation. I do not subscribe to the “overcomer” theology that divides the real and true body of Christ and tends towards elitism, and extravagant theologies of immortality etc.. I do, however, see a very straight gate that defines what is true and what if false at an unseen level of divine discernment. I do see a birthing canal of end time events that will take every true born seed of Christ into a tribulation fullness. e” theology.

When one is truly “in Christ”, that reality will be proven by the evidence. Where there is lingering carnality in the Christian, the days ahead will be the make or break of which way they will go, and in my reading of scripture, if they are truly born of God, the crisis will manifest that reality, and the others will fall away. That does not divide the true work of God in His saints. He knows His own. I also believe that there are some who are sealed now, but through the lingering presence of the veil of the flesh, do not experience, or fully “apprehend” the full glory of their actual standing in Christ.

I am saying that when the Accuser is cast down, that struggle will end forever by a full assurance of faith that will receive great power for witness and service. Of course, that is available now, but this speaks of a greater corporate sanctification of the true church on a grand world wide scale, that will come through the constraints of the prophetic revelation and corresponding fulfillment, and thus “straighten” the real and believing body of Christ, or a significant representation of them, to this place of ultimacy and deeper sanctification in the middle of the week when the accuser is cast down. Any that are truly born of God who are not in that fullness by that point, will be very soon afterwards. Else, they will show their true hearts in the great falling away.

It is not manifested sons theology to recognize a greater fullness and manifestation of the life of Christ in jars of clay due to such powerful inducements and constraints, just as anytime a believer passes through great waters there is purification and refining and deeper apprehension of his or her standing in Christ. This will simply be on a grander scale.

What I am most interested to stress is not so much the particular identity of the woman or the man child. I made mention that our view does not stand or fall with that, one way or the other. But what I am particularly interested to stress is the glorious transition in heaven at the middle point of Daniel’s 70th week. This is a real chronological event that happens in heaven, and that results in the abomination that starts the tribulation. What will this mean for the saints? That’s all I’m mostly interested to ask.

Satan’s eviction by Michael, as the accuser, does not only mean woe for the earth; it means glory and fullness of power for the saints. With the eviction of the accuser, a glorious exclamation of jubilant and praise goes up from the saints: “Now is come salvation, strength, the kingdom of God and the power of His Christ…” (Rev 12:10). Significantly, at that very point, the scripture glories in the readiness of these (never to be accused again) saints to face their greatest trial in complete absence of the fear. It is this precise point at the middle of the week (or threshold of the tribulation), that other scriptures show the church doing exploits with great anointing and power (see Dan 11:32-35; Rev 12:11).

This is also significantly the time that “power” is given to the two witnesses (Rev 11:3). I suggested at the conference that this was not coincidental, but that the power coming on the two in Jerusalem is coming at that time on all the remnant of faith facing the last test. They have been corporately straightened to this place of Daniel-like urgency and travail by the events of the first 3 1/2 years. In other words, mention in those passages of great power at this particular time (after the abomination; Dan 11:31-33) is by no means incidental; it corresponds to the victory that Michael has just won in heaven (I believe through a travailing church).

This tells me that the church will be straightened and prepared, in no small part, by the events of the first 3 1/2 years. But at the middle of the week, in full knowledge and certainty of the time, there will be a heavenly break through for the expectant remnant that not only accomplishes the final dejection of Satan, but on a corporate scale, perfect love has come. When Satan is cast down, fear is cast out! Again, none of this is entirely new. It happens in measure for any individual anytime there is a fresh and lively quickening of the glory of the gospel, but this is something that is happening on a larger heavenly and corporate scale. It is the intensive and concentrated fullness of a well established pattern and principal that makes the church the church, only here it is on an unprecedented corporate scale. Furthermore, there is some sense in which Satan’s ability to accuse a saint is cut off forever. He is cast down forever. The veil cannot return to those that have come through to this certainty and freedom. It is not new revelation; it is the deeper and fuller “apprehension” of the once and for all gospel of Christ. This, and this alone is the key to the church’s coming fullness. Daniel’s prophecy is the divinely appointed help (birthing canal) to that end.

By every evidence, if there was any deficiency in the saint’s apprehension and certainty of their sealed position at God’s right hand, we may be sure that from this point forward, they will never know another doubt concerning their sealed union with Christ. Something has happened in heaven that is very good for the believer; it is an ‘open heaven’, free of the accuser’s ministry of accusation against the consciences of the saints.

Of course, this can be nothing other than a full, clear, and “unhindered” apprehension of the gospel, since that is the only place the power is, or ever will be (Ro 1:16-17). I’m not speaking about new or esoteric truth; I’m speaking about the greatest revival and quickened apprehension of the gospel in history, producing the fruit of a multitude that cannot be numbered (Dan 11:32-33; 12:3 with Rev 7:9, 13-14), a revival that could have never come, on this kind of corporate world wide scale apart from the preparation provided by the ‘set times’ of Daniel’s end time revelation! As the veil of the flesh is beaten back through truth, deep dealings, and holy tremblings, the light shines brighter to the perfect day, and the middle of the week break through is a first fruits fore-shining of that now very imminent perfect day.

The identity of the woman is made difficult by so much confusion over the nature of the church and Israel. The church has never been a separate entity from Israel, distinct, yes! Separate? No! Believers of this age are in continuity with the righteous remnant of the OT period. As such, we (as grafted into the righteous remnant of Israel) are an internal phenomenon within the covenant nation. The church did NOT begin at Pentecost. The revelation of the body of Christ, as the “one new man” of the new creation, should not be taken to imply a new entity that had no former existence. It is NOT the body of Christ that is new; it is the revelation.

Before the heavenly woman was Israel, she was the church, “the Jerusalem which is above, the mother of us all.” Before she was represented by Mary, she was the godly remnant within the apostate nation. She existed before Israel, but not before the church, because the church is all the seed of the Spirit, regardless of dispensation. The OT righteous were the woman’s seed, and Christ was the perfection of that seed. God does not give the Spirit by measure (unto Him). That is the implied theology behind Jn 3:34, which is interested to show the uniqueness of Christ in contrast to Moses and the earlier prophets, who had the Spirit only by measure (2Kings 2:19). The King James translators understood this as the intention and so supplied the words, ‘unto him’.

So in my view, the woman represents all the generation of the Spirit (the seed). This necessarily includes Israel, as the elect nation that is destined to one day be completely righteous in Christ. Though its individual members may not all be saved, Israel is the elect covenant vessel that God has chosen for His millennial demonstration of the covenant of grace, so the woman in the wilderness is indeed the elect nation, destined for faith, and the “remnant of her seed, which have the testimony of Jesus,” is obviously the church. (Obviously, this is not obvious to dispenationalists who deny that Spirit born saints in the tribulation can be called, the body of Christ, due to their very novel and untenable view of the nature of the church).

So the woman is both Israel and the church within Israel, the ever expanding, “remnant according to the election of grace,” into which gentiles have been unexpectedly grafted, according to the revelation of the mystery. The woman is the womb of the Spirit. She extends from her constant labor over the ages to bring forth Christ to the completion of her labor in the birth of Israel in one day (Isa 66:8).

I know you’re to gracious to be offened by my doubts. I’m not doubting you so much as my understanding of you.
Let this be a private exchange. No need to trouble your other readers with it. Unless you think it would be helpful.

I thank you for that option, which I would have been careful to make sure of before sending this to others, but I do believe your concerns are well taken, and may be a help to others.

In brotherly love and appreciation, Reggie

With sincere appreciation of you work…

Richard

Dear Reggie,

I’ve been meditating this evening about what just took place here in Ohio. I would like to write a brief summary highlighting specific things that God spoke to our hearts at the convocation . All were blessed and encouraged by the unfolding of the revelation on Friday evening concerning the victory and “power” [Rev. 11:3] that will be received by the two witnesses [as well as the saints] when Satan is evicted [removing hindrances that we now struggle with] from heaven by Michael at the beginning of the 3 ½ years. I was wondering what you have already written in detail on this? If not, can you “record the vision and inscribe it on tablets” so that we can put it in the record as one of the highlights of the convocation?

Phil N.

So grateful for you, Phil. We saw a servant of servants among us. If ever I can serve or be a help in anything to you personally, you have only to ask.

Thank you so much for your prayers. I feel something deep is starting to break in the Spirit for these that have fallen in the battle. To those that sit in the shadow, a great light of hope and renewed invitation is about to be extended in the Spirit, as a new time and season in God for the wounded and failed. Hallelujah to Jesus forever!

So far as means and ability provide, I hope to never miss any opportunity or occasion with such a select and precious body of brothers and sisters. What a spirit of fellowship and unity of love! It was something to behold.

Please extend my special appreciation to Phil H. for his helpful insight concerning Satan’s focused effort to “hold back” the end time message of Daniel from the church. His remarks further confirmed my own strong conviction that Satan is particularly threatened by the church’s knowledge of Daniel’s vision, because its fulfillment will play a great part in moving the church into its place, to fulfill its part in the great transition that takes place in the middle of Daniel’s 70th week.

When we begin to see what God has invested in the prophecy of Daniel in relation to the final downfall of Satan, it is not far to see why Daniel met such extreme hindrance from the demon Prince of Persia, requiring the special help of Michael (Dan 10:13). This helps to explain why no other book of the Bible has been so viciously attacked by unbelieving critical scholarship. [The history of this war against the book of Daniel is documented in Sir Robert Anderson’s, “Daniel in the Critics Den.” More recently, the contemporary, Josh McDowell, has taken the same title for his update of Anderson’s earlier work.]

As I have had time to reflect further on Phil’s remarks about Satan’s focused resolve to “restrain”, (withhold, hinder, resist) the end time message of Daniel in particular, I was reminded of those precious and instructive words in Dan 10:12. “From the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard …”

It is important to see what was at stake in Daniel’s burden. An awesome divine sovereignty was at work in a revelation that would establish the framework of all the future of redemptive history, comprehending the mystery of Christ’s twofold coming to Israel, and reaching at length to Michael’s final eviction of Satan (Dan 12:1 with 2Thes 2:7; Rev 12:7, 10). This great transition reveals the mystery of iniquity in the final man of sin and finishes the mystery of God (2Thes 2:3, 7-8; Rev 10:7). That’s how pivotal Daniel’s revelation is in the larger scheme of things. Therefore, if something of such scale and importance did not come to Daniel without a fight, the church should expect that its fulfillment will not be without a similar earnestness.

Though “heard from the first”, the answer to Daniel’s prayer ‘could not’ reach him apart from an angelic war that required the deepest engagement of spirit on Daniel’s part. It shall be so again, as the godly remnant (the ‘maskilim’; Dan 11:33; 12:3, 10), in absolute certainty of the time, are brought to a Daniel-like urgency of intercessory travail. It is important to recognize that the travail of the heavenly woman depicted in Rev 12, does not end with the
birth and ascension of the Messiah. On the contrary, ‘Zion’s travail’ is not complete short of the full reach of the covenant promise in the post-tribulational salvation of ‘all Israel’ (Isa 13:8-9; 26:16-18; 66:8; Jer 30:6-7; Dan 12:1; Mic 5:3).

At first sight, it would appear that the great transition that starts the last 3 1/2 years begins with Michael’s victory in heaven, and in one sense that’s true. However, Michael’s eviction of Satan will have been prepared by the events of the first half of Daniel’s 70th week that lead up to it (Dan 9:27; 11:23-30). In other words, this event in heaven doesn’t take place independently of other related ‘timed’ events that will clearly signal its approach.

The believing remnant will know the certainty of the time based on the “league” (alliance) that Israel has entered with the Antichrist (Isa 28:15, 18; Dan 8:25; 9:27; 11: 23). This establishes the deceptive and disarming peace that permits Israel to relax their guard as preliminary to the sudden destruction that comes with the unexpected invasion of the Antichrist (Ezek 38:8, 11, 14; Dan 11:24; 1Thes 5:3).

By every evidence, it is this false peace that provides incentive (or perhaps right of access) for the re-institution of the temple service (Dan 12:11; Mt 24:15). Notably, the scripture indicates that at this time, the holy places have only recently been recovered to Jewish possession (Isa 63:18; 64:11). Furthermore, our view that Antiochus Epiphanes was not the complete fulfillment, but only a type of the still coming ‘little horn’ (Antichrist), leads us to expect a literal and detailed fulfillment of the events of Dan 11:23-30, as leading up to the abomination of desolation in Dan 11:31. This would mean that Dan 11:23-30 constitute the first half of Daniel’s 70th week, and thus occupy the first 3 1/2 years that begin with the deadly “league” of Dan 11:23. This is how the believing remnant will see it coming.

From the heavenly perspective, it is clear that the tribulation starts with Michael’s eviction of Satan. This begins Satan’s “short time” (Rev 12:12), which is clearly concurrent with the 3 1/2 years of the woman’s flight into the wilderness (Rev 12:6, 14), also the last 42 months of the treading down of Jerusalem and the beast’s persecution of the saints (Rev 11:2; 13:5). However, the tribulation does not start in earnest until the earthly event that Jesus gives as the sign to flee Judea (Mt 24:15-16).

This is the event that, according to Daniel, starts the last 3 1/2 years (compare Dan 12:11 with Dan 12:1; Mt 24:21). This is explained by understanding that when Satan is cast out of heaven, he takes up a full and unlimited residence in the man of sin, which fulfills the ‘mystery of iniquity’ that holds back the day of the Lord (2Thes 2:3, 7-8).

A careful comparison of all the scriptures reveals a mystery of a composite beast (Rev 13:2) that comprehends in one all the fullness of all the former beast kingdoms of Daniel and Revelation (“he is of the seven”; Rev 17:11). This is the beast that causes the whole world to wonder, when he miraculously revives from the deadly wound (Rev 13:3, 12, 14; 17:8).

The eighth beast that “was and is not and yet is” (Rev 17:8, 11) is none other than the resurrected seventh, who now embodies in one all the fullness of the former seven (“of the seven”; Rev 17:11). As the resurrected seventh, the eighth beast is a composite of all that went before (Rev 13:2), incorporating in himself all the fullness of what the former beasts were in limited measure. As such, he is the little horn (Dan 7:8; 8:9), the self magnifying prince (Dan 8:11), the ‘prince that shall come’ (Dan 9:26), the ‘king of fierce countenance’ (Dan 8:23), the ‘vile person’ (Dan 11:21), and the self exalting willful king’ (Dan 11:36-37) of Daniel’s prophecy.

As the composite beast, this ‘man of sin’ exceeds all the former beasts, as the one “whose coming is according to the working of Satan with ALL power and signs and lying wonders” (2Thes 2:8-9). From the time that Michael removes Satan from heaven, the mystery of iniquity is revealed in the full incarnation of the serpent’s seed.

While there will be two beasts on the earth during the tribulation, it is the one distinguished as “the first beast” (Rev 13:12, 14) who fulfills the mystery of iniquity. He is the one whom Paul calls, ‘the man of sin’. He is the one who had the mortal wound that was healed (Rev 13:3, 12, 14). He is the one who ascends out of the abyss (Rev 11:7; 13:14; 17:8, 11). It is his resurrection that causes the “whole world to ‘wonder'” (Rev 13:3; 17:8). The “short space” that he is permitted to continue (Rev 17:10) is surely equal to Satan’s ‘short time’ (Rev 12:12), which is the last 3 1/3 years of the unequaled tribulation.

Part of the mystery is that this trans-historical, multi-headed, multi-horned beast culminates in an incarnation. The composite beast (Rev 13:2; 17:11) is a man (Dan 7:8; Rev 13:18). That is to say, the mystery of iniquity that has spanned all of history concentrates itself at last in the self exalting “man of sin” (Dan 11:36-37; 2Thes 2:3-4) who takes away the daily sacrifice (Dan 8:11; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11).

The final Antichrist will be the full and unhindered fullness of what all former antichrists (plural) were in part. The mystery that is already working, will continue to work till the one that is hindering is taken out of the way (see 2Thes 2:7 with Rev 12:10). [According to Rev 12:10, it is the removal of Satan that permits the kingdom to come.] “Then shall that Wicked (Ungodly One; the Septuagint translation of Isa 11:4, as cited by Paul) be revealed, whom the Lord shall destroy with the Spirit of His mouth and the brightness of His coming” (2Thes 2:8).

As Christ filled up the perfection of the Spirit without limit or measure (Jn 3:34 KJV; Col 2:9; 1Tim 3:16), even so, must the man of sin fill up the fullness of the serpent’s seed (the spirit of Satan), without limit or measure in a final humanity. Then, and only then, can the age end (compare 2Thes 2:3, 7-8; Rev 12:10).

When the pieces are assembled in their indicated order, it appears that at the same time that Satan is cast down, he takes up a full and unhindered residence in the beast, whose mortal wound is miraculously healed. The mystery of iniquity is fulfilled in, what will appear to the world, as a miraculous resurrection, “when they behold the beast that was and is not and yet is” (Rev 17:8).

But God’s elect will not be surprised. They will know, that this ungodly ascent out of the abyss (Rev 11:7; 13:3, 14; 17:8) is “according to the working of Satan.” Contrary to popular belief, this is not something that Satan wants. He resists it with greatest dread and loathing, because he knows that it will mean that he has only a “short time” (Rev 12:12). The saints will rejoice with greatest jubilation, because for them, it will mean that what was in the way of the coming of the kingdom in power (i.e., the day of the Lord; 2Thes 2:3; Rev 10:7; 11:15) has been finally “taken out of the way” (2Thes 2:7 with Rev 12:10).

As Christ bypassed any taint of the fallen nature, by means of the miracle of virgin birth, this final incarnation of Satan in the flesh, accomplishes the opposite kind of fullness by means of death and resurrection. In this way, the last residue of the image of God is removed from this ‘vile person’ (Dan 11:21), which is apparently necessary in order for Satan’s full possession of this man to be made possible. It is at that time, that he goes to stop the sacrifice that begins the end (Dan 12:11). [Note: He is the vile person, from the start of his reign, and will be known as such by his activities in Dan 11:23-30. But he does not become the “‘man of sin” until the point where the fullness of Satan is revealed in him through a demonic resurrection. This is the revelation of the mystery of iniquity that starts the tribulation with the nearly simultaneous events of Michael’s eviction of Satan (Dan 12:1; Rev 12:7-14) and the stopping of the sacrifice in the middle of the week (Dan 9:27; 12:11).]

The manifest correlation of simultaneous events, shows that Michael’s eviction of Satan has its immediate result, in the resurrection of the Antichrist. This is implied by the figure of the healing of the wounded beast’s demonic ascent from the abyss (Rev 11:7; 13:3, 12, 14; 17:8). No interpretation can be acceptable that minimizes the impact this will have on the unbelieving world. It will defy natural explanation. It makes the whole world to “wonder” (compare Rev 13:3; 17:8). It will be a delusion so great, as to deceive all on the earth, “whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world” (compare Mt 24:24; 2Thes 2:9-11; Rev 17:8).

Michael’s eviction of Satan is manifestly synchronous with the deadly wound and its subsequent healing, which permits the eighth beast to ascend out of the abyss as the resurrected seventh (Rev 11:7; 13:14; 17:8, 11). I am persuaded that this divinely ordained convergence of time and events forces the resurrection that reveals the mystery of iniquity in the final ‘man of sin’. As shown earlier, this spells the end of Satan’s dominion, which is why he must be forcibly removed by Michael.

The death of the Antichrist is necessary, to accomplish the complete removal of “the remnant of the image of God,” humanity, conscience, or common grace. Apparently, this complete evacuation of the soul through death permits or forces Satan’s full and unhindered indwelling of this man. This is what I believe fulfills the mystery of iniquity, that holds back the day of Christ’s return. It exposes what fallen man is in himself, behind the veil of human morality, divested of the last vestige of natural human conscience. This beast will be as free from righteousness, as the virgin born savior was free from any taint of the fallen nature that comes through Adam. The one is the perfection of faithful dependency on the Father; the other is the perfection of pride and self dependence, even a presumed divine invincibility through his misunderstood resurrection (Isa 10:7; Dan 11:39; Hab 1:11; 2:5).

While the world marvels at this open demonic miracle, the revealed man of sin will head straight for the temple in Jerusalem (Dan 11:31; Mt 24:16; 2Thes 2:4) to stop the sacrifice and place the abomination that begins the unequaled tribulation (Dan 12:11 with Mt 24:15 and Dan 12:1 with Mt 24:21). This is the earthly result of the events in heaven, which significantly follow upon the events foretold in Dan 11:23-30. The heavenly transition has been prepared by what has been taking place in the first half of the week, which will be greatly used of God for the preparation of the church and its role as priestly intercessor in travail for the coming of the kingdom. The church that has come of age will know the cost by which the kingdom comes through the necessary removal of the one who hinders (2Thes 2:7), i.e., Satan (Dan 12:1 with Rev 12:7, 10) and the tribulation that must follow (Rev 12:12-14).

Because I believe the church will be a conscious and active participant in this great transition in the middle of the week, it is important that we see that as long as Satan retains his place in heaven, the day of the Lord cannot come. Yet, through the constraints of the fulfillment of prophecy, God knows how to see that His elect will be in their place, at their posts, and on their watch at the set time.

This is why Paul says, there is one who now hinders the revelation of this mystery. This is why Satan must be forcibly removed from heaven by Michael. This is the great transition that must take place in heaven before the tribulation can begin, with the revelation of the mystery of iniquity and the removal of the sacrifice in Jerusalem (Dan 12:11).

We may expect, that the absolute certainty concerning the time of this event of the time will accomplish I am nothing less than certain that with the arrival of the 70th week of years, the true body of Christ will be brought into a corporate travail and earnestness, who will receive the same divine help that came in response to Daniel’s self-humbling and prayer. By the finger of God, the church will be brought to the place of deepest intercession (Isa 59:16; 63:5). When the church will ‘travail’, Michael will ‘prevail’.

If we note that the tribulation starts immediately after the woman’s travail (Rev 12:6-14 with Dan 12:1), it appears that what has been, will be again. The imagery in John’s vision in Rev 12 defies putting its complete fulfillment in the first century with Christ’s birth and ascension. Just as the figure of the woman is much more comprehensive than Mary, so also does the figure of the man child point beyond its primary fulfillment in Jesus.

Just as Mary represents the godly remnant, that gives birth to the male seed of the woman in fulfillment of Gen 3:15, the ascension of the man child signifies the place that His seed have in Him beyond Satan’s reach, “far above all principality and power” (Eph 1:21; 4:10). However, the redemption fully accomplished in Christ as head of the church is only the first-fruits of the eschatological salvation.

The ascent of the man child, represents the secure first fruits of the covenant promise, which has set into irreversible motion the coming salvation of ‘all Israel’, the final goal of the covenant. In this view, Jesus is the head of the corporate ‘seed of the woman’, so that His birth and ascent can be seen as the primary fulfillment of a larger pattern. This pattern is repeated by a future travail of the woman that more immediately precedes the great tribulation of the last 3 1/2 years.

The birth and ascent of the man child looks beyond the primary fulfillment in Christ, to a future fullness that will be the fruit of the more immediate pre-tribulational travail of the woman. This interpretation respects the fuller corporate reach of the promise of Gen 3:15. As much as there is only one Son that receives the Spirit “without the measure” (Jn 3:34 KJV), in whom alone is “all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col 2:9; 1Tim 3:16). It is also true that the mystery of incarnation (treasure in jars of clay) extends to all who are “in Him” through the mystery of regeneration (Jn 3:8; 1Tim 3:16). Otherwise, we could not speak of “this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you the hope of glory” (Col 1:27).

The clearly future travail of the woman, in connection with Michael’s pre-tribulational (mid-week) eviction of Satan, leads us to consider that the imagery of the birth and ascent of the man child, also extends to the consummation. In this view, the travail of the church accomplishes a spiritual break-through, in the tribulation remnant, that will be in analogy to the catching up of Christ. Not that the saints of that time have left the earth (as some have assumed), but rather, the saints that have been brought to this place of transition, have apprehended and appropriated all the fullness of the gospel. They will know themselves to be the sealed remnant of faith, that through grace alone, have come to the full apprehension of their eternal position in Christ, at God’s right hand. Though living on the earth, they know themselves beyond Satan’s reach. Though beleaguered and killed, they are secure in their ascended head, just as Jesus could claim to be presently “in heaven” at the same time He was speaking to Nicodemus on earth (Jn 3:13).

Many have overlooked the fact that since Michael’s eviction of Satan starts the last 3 1/2 years, the heavenly victory depicted here has a clearly future fulfillment that is something more than the general tribulations of this age. Paul, writing the Thessalonians in 53 A.D., said this time would be marked by the revelation of the mystery of iniquity in the man of sin. So all must admit that, at least from this point in the first century, the manifestation of the man of sin was understood by Paul to be yet future, and sufficiently recognizable to be distinguished from the present afflictions.

It is imperative that the church come to see what God has invested in the great transition that comes in the middle of Daniel’s final week. It touches both mysteries, not only the mystery of iniquity, but also the further mystery of the woman’s seed in the saints of the tribulation (“the remnant of her seed which have the testimony of Jesus”; Rev 12:17). Before Israel comes in, a fullness is destined for the church, as the corporate seed of the woman (Dan 8:24; 11:32-33; Jn 14:12; Ro 11:25; Eph 4:13; Rev 11:3; 12:10-11).

We suggested that this fullness comes to the church at the same time that Michael casts down Satan for the final tribulation, but we noted that the tribulation does not come in a vacuum. It begins with the abomination of desolation that is preceded and signaled by a larger 3 1/2 period that begins with a “league” or alliance (Dan 11:23) with the man that will later be manifest as Satan in the flesh, which fulfills the pre-advent “mystery of iniquity” (2Thes 2:7).

We pointed out, that in the same way that the opposing ‘Prince of Persia’ was dislodged by Michael before Daniel could receive the greatly desired revelation, just so, Michael will ‘stand’ to expel Satan from his position in heaven. This begins Satan’s “short time”, which is certainly the 3 1/2 years. We saw that Satan’s expulsion by Michael accomplishes the full and unlimited incarnation of Satan, which reveals the mystery of iniquity in the final man of sin (2Thes 2:3, 7-8), which brings the tribulation (Rev 12:6, 12, 14), which finishes the mystery of God (Rev 10:7), which ends in Christ’s return (Mt 24:29-31; Rev 11:15).

Not only does Michael’s pre-tribulational (mid-week) removal of Satan from heaven permit the revelation of the mystery of iniquity and the tribulation that must be fulfilled before Christ can return (Dan 12:1 with 2Thes 2:3, 7-8; Rev 12:10), it also accomplishes a clear and open heaven. This is not bad news, but glory unspeakable for the saints of the great transition!

From the point when the Accuser is cast down, there is some sense that Satan’s former access to the conscience of even a true believer (“Accuser of the brethren”) is cut off forever (Rev 12:10. In some remarkable sense, Satan’s place in heaven, implied some measure of access to the believer’s conscience (1Jn 3:20). Whatever form this has taken, it is clear that from the middle of the week forward, it will be no more.

Judging from the scriptures that speak of the great power that comes upon the church at this time (Dan 11:32-33; Rev 11:3; 12:10-11), i.e., the time of the abomination (middle of the week; Dan 12:11), we may infer a great break-through and release, not only in heaven, but
for the saints on earth facing the last trial. For the ‘earth dwellers’, it is the time of unparalleled woe; it is Satan’s “short time” (Rev 12:12), but for the saints, it is the removal of what (or rather whom) was in the way of the glorious and triumphant breaking forth of “salvation, strength, the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ” (Rev 12:10). A key word in that text is “now”. When is “now”? It is when the Accuser has been cast down. That’s when the kingdom comes with power. Not only at the end of the tribulation when Satan is bound, but “NOW”, in the middle of the week. “Now is come ….”

[Note: Remember, Satan is not cast down until Michael stands up at the beginning of the tribulation (compare Dan 12:1; Rev 12:7, 12, 14). Any interpretation that doesn’t take this as its starting point, with the specified results that follow cannot be correct. It should also be said, that our interpretation does not stand or fall on whether or not we are correct in our inference, that a future fullness of the church is prefigured in the pre-tribulational birth and ascent of the man child.]

The implication is, that before the point of his expulsion by Michael, Satan had been able to retain a measure of access to the believer’s conscience. It is something to be taken up in future discussions, but manifestly, from this point forward, the conscience will be as far beyond Satan’s access to accuse (i.e., in the believer’s actual experience), as presently true of the believer’s heavenly position, where he or she is seated now in heavenly places ‘far beyond all principality and power’. Therefore, we say that this is NOT about something that is entirely new; it is about a deeper and “unhindered” apprehension of the gospel. It will be a powerful “enforcement” in heaven of all that has been once and for all accomplished in Christ’s victory over Satan. It is that tension that we see now between Christ’s once and for all victory and the further destruction of the Devil’s works (1Jn 3:8) that awaits the end (Heb 2:8).

In the context of the mystery of the gospel, as it spans both comings of Christ, the end time revelation of Daniel is dreaded by Satan, because it sets the definite limits of his time. I believe that God will use the set times revealed in Daniel’s prophecy to straighten the church corporately, to a place of deepest apprehension of the gospel, not because it is learning new things, but that the truth of divine revelation, under the quickening power of the Spirit, is shutting the church up to something ultimate.

The truth in those days will not work as a heady “inside track” of secret knowledge (the danger of biblical Gnosticism). The truth that quickens will also further empty the believer, by cutting off the strength of the flesh by increasing degrees. “He must increase, but I must decrease” (Jn 3:30). Before Jacob is brought to the end of his power through the attrition of the great tribulation (Deut 32:36; Dan 12:7), the church will be brought to a similar end of self dependency through the powerful constraints of the first 3 1/2 years in clear view of what it is facing and the grace that will be required to stand in the evil day. This is why the gospel will be so much more deeply apprehended and appropriated at this time. It is because the church will be brought to the place of perfected love and dependency on the Word and the Spirit.

This is the sense that I see a yet future travail of the woman. It is a repeat of a faithful pattern, in an ultimate intensity, and the finality of divine purpose for the church, bringing forth the full manifestation of the life of Christ, the ‘man child’, in the corporate seed of the woman. In our view, this will be a demonstration before men and angels of the glory of God in the church (Eph 3:21), which fullness we see as necessary in the church before the Deliverer comes out of Zion to “turn away of ungodliness from Jacob”, thus accomplishing the covenanted salvation of “all Israel” (Ro 11:26-27).

A comparison of Rev 12:2 with Isa 66:8, suggests a mysterious twofold travail of the covenant woman. In Isa 66:8, the tribulation and subsequent birth of the nation comes AFTER the birth of the man child. In contrast to what we will find in Rev 12:2, 5, a man child is born BEFORE the pain of travail. “BEFORE she travailed, she brought forth; BEFORE her pain came, she was delivered of a man child” (Isa 66:7), whereas, in Rev 12:2, 5, the birth of the man child comes AFTER the pain of travail.

This is curious, but the paradox resolves itself by distinguishing between the post-tribulational birth of the nation, and the pre-tribulation birth of the man child. The former speaks of the future ‘time of Jacob’s trouble’ (Jer 30:7), or “Zion’s travail” (compare Isa 13:7-9; 26:17; 66:8; Jer 30:6-7; Mic 5:3), which is the great tribulation that ends in Israel’s deliverance (Jer 30:7; Dan 12:1; Mt 24:21), whereas, the latter speaks of the pre-tribulational travail of the church, in the first instance Mary, as representative of the godly remnant, but ultimately “the remnant of her seed” that will be on earth at the point of transition when Michael will prevail in heaven to cast out Satan. [Note: I believe it is Satan who holds back or restrains the mystery of iniquity, which must be revealed in the man of sin in order for Christ return (2Thes 2:3, 7-8; with Rev 12:10).]

In this view, the woman is at once the godly remnant within the nation (the church), but also the covenant nation of predestined salvation (prodigal Israel). The woman is not only Mary, but like the man child, she is a corporate figure, as signified by “the Jerusalem which is above, which is the mother of us all” (Gal 4:26). Like the multi-headed, multi-horned dragon of Rev 12:3, her existence is trans-historical. She is at once the heavenly Zion, and the church, “the believing remnant of her seed”, but no less the covenant nation that is predestined for salvation at the end of the tribulation. This implies two things:

1) The messianic redemption comes before the day of the Lord. That Christ accomplishes atonement and ascends to heaven to await the end of the tribulation was a “big” issue in Christian Jewish polemics in the first century, and should be still. It shows how the inward salvation of Israel must precede the outer, so that the kingdom will indeed be ruled by those who have been made priestly, not through works, but through the sufferings of faith.

2) A further travail of the woman is implied, that is more immediately connected to the start of the last 3 1/2 years. A close reading of the text will yield the impression that Michael’s eviction of Satan is connected to the birth and ascent of the man child at the end of the woman’s travail. Rev 12:5-6 implies that the woman flees immediately upon the catching up of the man child at the completion of her travail. We believe this is a pattern and figure of things to come, such that cannot be restricted to its first and highest fulfillment in Christ in the first century. The pattern completes itself in the tribulation church, the believing “remnant of her seed” (Rev 12:17; 14:12).

Certainly, Rev 12 is occupied with a far greater sweep than the last 3 1/2 years. Its imagery is trans-historical. Not only is it comprehensive of the entire inter-advent period. It reaches back to the beginnings of the mystery of iniquity as represented by the multi-headed, multi-horned beast. Still, we must not permit the expansiveness of the vision to divert our attention to its focus on the great transition in heaven that brings to pass the last half of Daniel’s 70th week. The point is that all of this comes to a final head at the beginning of the last 3 1/2 years, which significantly agrees with Paul’s insight, that the day of the Lord cannot come until he who holds back the revelation of the mystery of iniquity has been “taken out of the way” (2Thes 2:7). In other words, the tribulation waits for Satan to be cast down.

All of this points to a future participation of the church, in the great transition, that comes at the middle of Daniel’s last week. As stated before, none of this is entirely new; it is the church’s fuller and deeper apprehension of the gospel, precisely because the certainty of the time has worked to remove the last remnant of self dependency that has hindered the fuller manifestation of Christ in the believer.

It will be the convergence of something old (i.e., the gospel) with something new (i.e., the certainty of the time). Triumph over Satan, whether it be his eviction at the beginning, or his binding at the end of the tribulation, is always related to the issue of revelation, just as the issue of the veil is always related to confidence in the flesh. The preliminary events that lead up to the tribulation, will empty the church in more ways than we can presently conceive. It will be the fullest corporate expression of that martyr obedience that was exemplified in Stephen, and many since.

The church is brought to this transitional crisis of travail through the fuller understanding of Daniel’s vision, in combination with its manifest fulfillment in the first half of the week. This is a primary means, by which the church will be emptied of all the residue of self-reliance, which supports unbelief and permits Satan his occasional access to accuse the believer’s conscience. [This is, of course, the issue of the blood, but the power of the blood is never fully appropriated while there is a divided confidence between Spirit and flesh, grace and works.]

Knowing God’s intended use of the observable signal events leading up to the tribulation, we are much the more guarded concerning interpretations that that deny their future fulfillment. This is to rob the church of vital preparation. The first half of Daniel’s week, so much the object of dispute and denial, is strategically set of God to work as a kind of birthing canal, by which the church will be brought to a fullness of faith and power for the time of the great transition. Therefore, it is NOT a matter of comparative indifference, if the events of the first half of the week are lost to the church’s expectation through unsound interpretations.

Certainly, the wonderfully recurrent theme of the serpent’s efforts to devour the woman’s seed is a pattern repeated many times throughout the history of redemption, but the last 3 1/2 years, is its final and ultimate expression. That is why I especially appreciated your emphasis on the personal life of Daniel, as the divinely intended proto-type of the godly remnant facing the last trial. The pattern so suitable for the church’s instruction, for all times, becomes ultimate at the time of the end.

Not only has Satan’s prolonged residence in heaven ‘held back’ the revelation of the mystery of iniquity, it has also perpetuated an access that the Accuser has to the believer’s conscience. However this is regarded or understood, one thing is clear: It ends at the beginning of the tribulation with Michael’s eviction of Satan. From that time, Satan will no longer be able to “accuse our brethren”. Something will have prevailed in the Spirit that will fully and finally cut off this aspect of Satan’s oppression of the saints. From that time, his rage will be restricted to their bodies only. Whatever access he may have had to their conscience is no more. Even while they are being outwardly worn out and overcome, inwardly they go from strength to strength in Zion (Ps 84:7). The people appointed to flame and sword will also be a people “kept in perfect peace” (Isa 26:3), because just as Michael has cast out Satan, so love has cast out fear.

There is an instructive pattern here that we should note, not only for the end time, but for all time. While I believe Michael’s eviction of Satan comes at a specific and actual point of chronological time, I also believe that this climactic point of transition answers to a pattern that is ongoing for all saints of all time. It has all to do with the veil over the heart that hinders the full light of the gospel, even from a beleaguered saint that may not always fully enjoy what the writer of Hebrews calls, “the full assurance of faith” (Heb 10:22; 1Jn 3:19-21). It is the veil that is over the Jewish heart to this day (2Cor 3:15-16), which Satan exploits to hide the gospel from those that are perishing (1Cor 1:18; 2Cor 4:4). It is the veil that is currently spread over all nations (Isa 25:7), which is destroyed at the day of the Lord, when the mystery of God is finished, and Satan (“the anointed cherub that covers”; Ezek 28:14) is bound.

I do not believe that Jacob was born again when he became Israel. He was, however, powerfully transformed when he was touched in the thigh of his strength. From that time, he would have a new name, Israel, meaning “a prince having power with God”. I believe the church must fulfill this pattern in itself before it can complete its witness to Jacob in the day of his international calamity and flight. This will be accomplished when Michael prevails to evict Satan. The removal of the accuser will mean great victory for the church facing the final test. One travail completes itself in the birthing of the man child, which appears to be coincidental with the removal of the accuser. Then begins the final travail of Jacob’s trouble, which ends in the birth of the nation in one day (Isa 66:8).

In chapter 10, we saw that Michael’s intervention was in response to Daniel’s intercessory travail for understanding, for the sake of his people, their hope and their destiny. It will be so again. Through a series of well marked and recognizable signal events, the church, or at least a remnant of the church, will be brought to a similar posture of intercessory travail before God. Through the divinely prepared constraints of the pre-tribulational events, there will be a Daniel people that have come to full term with the burden of the vision.

So it is not only a set time, it is a set people that have been prepared through the truth and its manifest fulfillment. It will be as when Jesus said to Peter: “Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish” (John 21:18). Certainly, the saints desire this place, but something will be required of the church corporately that it could never have volunteered. “The spirit is indeed willing but the flesh is weak.” So He must take us where we could not have gone.

That is why Satan dreads the last straightening of the church. Only in full light of the larger context and counsel of scripture, of course, but it is particularly the revelation and clear fulfillment of Daniel’s end time vision that will take the church, corporately speaking, “where it would not have gone”. Daniel was powerfully affected by the clear knowledge that the 70 years of Jeremiah had come near to term (Dan 9:2). The church that knows the time will likewise be moved to the same kind of priestly travail that will receive the help of Michael and thus accomplish the great transition in heaven that permits the end to come.

Paradoxically, the church that knows the truth, will find itself praying for this heavenly event that begins the great tribulation, because it knows that apart from this, Christ cannot return (Ro 8:22-23; 2Thes 2:7-8). It is hard for some to conceive, but the bleeding of a planet under the curse will never stop until this brief time of woe and tribulation comes first. We have been slow to grasp the order that Paul explains. Before “that day” can come, the man of sin must be first revealed (2Thes 2:1-3). However, the man of sin cannot be revealed until the one who is now restraining (holding back, resisting) is “taken out of the way” (2Thes 2:7-8).

It remains for future discussion, but the mystery of iniquity is the full and unlimited revelation of Satan in the flesh, and this event waits for Michael’s eviction of Satan. Satan resists this event, because it will mean his time is short (Rev 12:12). Therefore, we believe Satan is the restrainer that must be dislodged from his place in heaven in the same way that the opposing Prince of Persia was dislodged by Michael in Dan 10:13.

The church cannot pray for the kingdom to come in full intelligence, without praying that the one that is in the way, be “taken out of the way”. Though it will mean the brief but unequaled tribulation, it will also mean that the way is now open for the kingdom to come in all of its long awaited power and glory (Rev 12:10). The restrainer of 2Thes 2:7 is most certainly Satan whom Michael must remove before the kingdom can come (Rev 12:9-112). God is waiting for the kind of prayer that has counted the cost of what it will mean for the kingdom to come on earth (Acts 14:22).

We who are entrusted to bring this book’s critical content to the attention of our generation must guard hour hearts with an especial fear and trembling, because there can be no doubt that Satan dreads what increasing clarity of Daniel’s prophecy threatens. It means his time is short, because the revelation of Daniel will bring the church to a depth of travail that will be answered in Michael’s heavenly victory at the set time.

The plainness and certainty of the long awaited fulfillment of the Daniel’s great prophecy will constitute a corporate “moving with fear” of preparation, both spiritually and practically. When these things begin to be opened up to many, both near and far, we may expect an acceleration in the fulfillment. The Lord is faithful to have His witness prepared and in position. The true church will be manifest by its response to the evidence that prophecy is being fulfilled.

As the pillar and ground of truth, the church has been entrusted with the ‘key of interpretation. “They that understand among the people” will be able to explain the meaning of these things to a perishing world (Dan 11:33). The powerful prophetic witness of ‘those days’ promises the greatest harvest of souls since the beginning of the world, “a great multitude, which on one can number” (Dan 12:3; Rev 7:9, 14). But before this, a clear and distinct word (a certain sound) must come first (Amos 3:7; Rev 10:7). That word will be formed and birthed through the crisis of travail (Jn 16:21; Gal 4:19) that will come to the church by the convergence of revealed truth, prophetic fulfillment, and an absolute certainty concerning the time. For the flesh, time is power. As the time is removed, so are the last remains of self dependency. There will be an open heaven and a clear vision for the believing people of God.

The light that grows brighter to the perfect day will be confirmed by one primary priority, the “without which not” of all spiritual progress. It is what was so wonderfully evident at the convocation, the glorious love of the brethren (Ps 133).

Yours in the Beloved, Reggie

My dear brother Reggie,

The weekend spent with you guys was glorious! I want to personally thank you and tell you how much I appreciate your coming as our guest teacher. Words cannot express my grateful heart. You are a precious brother and a highly valued servant in the Kingdom of God!

In privileged friendship,

your

Bro. Phil

“…and when they praised the LORD saying, “He indeed is good for His lovingkindness is everlasting,” then the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God.” 2 Chron. 5:13,14

mi-a-006 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon – (Right Click HERE to Download)

mi-a-005 The Tribulation Fullness of the Church – (Right Click HERE to Download)

mi-a-004 In the second year of Nebuchadnezzar – (Right Click HERE to Download)

It’s this comment from ‘How soon is “The Time of Jacob’s Trouble?”’ that I’m asking that you clarify a-bit more than “north takes notice.”

Quotation from the previous article ‘How Soon Is the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble?”‘
“When looking at the scriptural language of prophecies such as Ezek 38:8 and Zeph 2:1-2, it is apparent that a preliminary return of the Jews to the Land in unbelief has only lately occurred when the invader from the north takes notice of the revived prosperity of the land. Notably, this return comes before the final redemption, but ‘after’ what is presented as a ‘recent’ ingathering from an age long dispersal (”brought back from the sword after many years”).

From the language of Ezek 38:8, it doesn’t appear that the invasion of Gog and Magog can be too long distant from the time of the preliminary regathering in unbelief mentioned here and in Zeph 2:1-2. From the context, it appears that the Jews have only lately returned to the Land from what has turned out to be centuries of exile (“brought back from the sword and gathered out of many people”) when “the chief prince of Meshech (the fearful foe from the north) takes notice of the flourishing prosperity of the fledgling new nation. I was showing the short space between the two events, as evidence that the invasion of the Antichrist (Ezek 38:17) cannot be too far distant from the time of the return of the prospering new nation.

As certainly as the tribulation (‘Jacob’s trouble’) is future, then Zeph 2:1-2 implies a recent ‘self-gathering’ of Jews to the Land in preparation for the calamity of the great day. This is the return we have witnessed in the 20th century. Therefore, despite the present state of Jewish unbelief in Christ, it is no less full of prophetic significance, as the necessary prelude to a world crisis over the Jerusalem question (“the controversy of Zion” Isa 34:8; Zech 12:2-3) that ends in Armageddon.

Here’s how it would have looked to an Old Testament believer: Jer 30:3 is clear in showing that the initial return from Babylon will not accomplish the final redemption. The prophecy of a yet future “time of Jacob’s trouble” would have come as an unexpected disappointment to the Jews returning from Babylon, because a superficial reading of the prophets had led many to associate the promise of return with the long expected golden age of national redemption.

This helps to explain Jeremiah’s personal astonishment when he sees the great anomaly of a yet future time of unequaled distress, as coming AFTER the return from Babylon (compare Jer 30:3, 6-7), but before the salvation of the great day. In Jeremiah 31:2, a yet future wilderness experience is contemplated before the time of ‘rest’ and before the covenant of the new heart in Jer 31:31-34.

Daniel’s prophecy helped to preserve the faith of the returned exiles by explaining that the unexpected delay is according to a pre-determined time schedule that would extend the exile for a yet further period of 70 times 7.

Therefore, it is a mistake to assume that because Jews have returned to the Land to become a nation (Dan 12:1), that this is the final return. On the contrary, the final return comes with Israel’s deliverance at the end of Jacob’s trouble (Jer 30:7; Dan 12:1). Unlike the preliminary return in unbelief, it is permanent and to the last man (Isa 11:11-12; 27:12-13; Ezek 39:28 et al).

Before the great age long dispersion that began with the events of 70 A.D., many apocalyptic sects among the Jews were looking for the one who would bring the final desolation of Jerusalem. They had read the prophecies (Isa 63:18; 64:10-11; Zech 14 et al). A comparison between Jer 30:7 and Dan 12:1 will demonstrate that the tribulation ends with two things in particular:

1) The deliverance of the saved remnant of Israel.

2) The resurrection of the righteous.

Anyone reading Daniel could see that the great tribulation would begin with the abomination of desolation and the removal of the sacrifice by the self exalting ‘man of sin’ (Dan 11:31, 36-37; 12:11). That much was clear, as we can see in Jesus’ and Paul’s reference to these same passages (Mt 24:15; 2Thes 2:4).

Writing after the exile, Zechariah mentions nothing of another dispersion, but he certainly contemplates a Jewish presence in the Land when describing the distress that precedes the day of the Lord. So unless the prophecies are to be spiritualized, something had to give. Somehow, the Jews had to be a nation again in the Land (Dan 12:1). That’s where we are today. We have come full circle. The early church lived and labored under the shadow of an imminent destruction of Jerusalem. We’re there again. The only difference is the church for the large part is sound asleep (Mt 25:5).

Of course, the expectation of the early church concerning Jerusalem was fulfilled, as also foretold by Jesus. However, with the destruction of Jerusalem, there came the crisis of what scholars call, “the delay of the Parousia” (coming). Although Jerusalem was destroyed, Jesus did not return to destroy the Antichrist “immediately after the tribulation of those days” (Mt 24:29; 2Thes 2:8), as expected. Furthermore, Daniel’s people were not delivered and the dead did not rise (Jer 30:7; Dan 12:1-2, 13; Ro 11:26).

As I see it, unless prophecy has failed, we are left with one of three choices:

1) Spiritualize both Christ’s return and the resurrection (preterism) by putting the tribulation (“Jacob’s trouble”) in the past

2) Interpret the tribulation as extending from 70 A.D. to Christ’s return (historicism)

3) See the tribulation as both literal and future. This, of course, requires a preliminary return of Israel to the Land in unbelief.

It is this last choice that gives such significance to such passages as Ezek 38:8 and Zeph 2:1-2, because the implication is that Israel has been only recently restored to nationhood (Dan 12:1) before the tribulation that ends in the deliverance of the day of the Lord.

Clearly, Ezek 38:8 describes a return that is shortly followed by the great and everlasting redemption described in Ezek 39:22-29. Nothing in the past has answered to the language of these highly descript prophecies that fulfill the covenant promises and mark the end of Israel’s long night of exile. If they are not to be spiritualized and taken over by the church, they are clearly future. The question is when?

According to Dan 12:11, the abomination and the removal of the sacrifice (Dan 11:31; Mt 24:15) marks the beginning of the last 3 1/2 years (compare Dan 7:25; 9:27; 12:7, 11; Rev 11:2-3; 12:6, 12, 14, 13:5). This is the great tribulation and the finishing of the ‘mystery of iniquity’ for which the return of Christ is awaits (2Thes 2:3-4, 7-8).

Since every other reference to the abomination of desolation mentioned in the book of Daniel is performed by the king who exalts himself (Dan 8:11; 11:21, 31, 36-37; 12:11), it becomes clear that it is not Christ but “the prince who shall come” of Dan 9:26 who takes away the sacrifice in the middle of the week (Dan 9:27).

This means that there is a gap between the 69th and 70th week. The first half of Daniel’s last week begins when the Jews enter a covenant with death and hell (Isa 28:15, 18) with the self-exalting ‘man of sin’ (Dan 8:11; 11:36-37; 2Thes 2:4). The chronological order of events leading to the abomination mentioned in Dan 11:31; 12:11 begins in Dan 11:23 with the words, “And AFTER the ‘league’ made with him, he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up and shall become strong with a small people. In time of security he shall come …”

This is the time of false security that Paul has in mind in 1Thes 5:3 that is a prelude to ‘sudden destruction’. It is the false security that exists in Israel (Ezek 38:8, 11, 14; 39:26) just before the invasion of Gog, who is none other than the last great oppressor spoken of by “all” the prophets of Israel (Ezek 38:17). His destruction ends in the glorious redemption described in Ezek 39:22-29.

Contrary to the objections of some, there is nothing out of character for a gap to exist between the different stages of prophetic fulfillment. So surely as the advent and career of Antichrist is future, we are forced to recognize a gap between the time of Rome and the end.

By the same rule, there is a gap between the Grecian kingdom and the actions of the final Antichrist in Dan 8 and 11 where the Roman period is passed over in prophetic silence. This same characteristic of prophecy can be demonstrated in a number of passages where the near and the far overlap, and where the two advents of Christ are sometimes combined without clear distinction in the same passage. This phenomenon belongs to the mystery of Christ twofold coming, which occasioned great puzzlement, so that many stumbled. It is the same today.

How long then is the gap? We can’t know the time as certainly as we will know it when the door of the last seven years closes tightly shut behind us. We will know it when Israel enters into a deceitful “league” with the Antichrist (Dan 11:21, 23). It must be a league that guarantees Jewish rights to the temple mount. In the meantime, there is evidence to suggest that the time between Israel’s rejection of their Messiah and their return to faith is about 2,000 years. I’ll show how this might be reckoned.

The analogy that is intimated in prophecy is Joseph’s self-disclosure and reunion with his estranged brethren. We see this in two of the pre-exilic prophets to the northern kingdom, Micah and Hosea.

In Mic 5:1-5, the famous Christmas prophecy, we see that with Israel’s rejection of the Messiah (“they shall smite the ruler of Israel with a rod upon the cheek”), God surrenders Israel to an age long judgment. “Therefore (because the ruler was smitten), He (Yahweh) shall give them up …”). But for how long? “Until the time when she who travails has brought forth (Jacob’s trouble), then shall the remnant of His brethren return … and they shall abide: for now shall He be great unto the ends of the earth.” Now there’s a “gap” if I ever saw one! It perfectly explains the plight of Israel from the cross till the end of the tribulation.

Hosea describes the same long time of temporary divine desertion (the age long hiding of God’s face). In Hos 5:15, God says He will depart and return to “my place”. (Hos 5:15). Such momentary abandonment is never permanent. Once more, it is “until they acknowledge their offense” (not only ‘guilt’ in general, but a singular consummate transgression or offense).

This long awaited acknowledgement comes with God’s re-visitation “after two days.” All throughout the third day, the long estranged nation will “live” in His sight.

If we are correct to understand the third day as the millennial reign of Christ over a resurrected and restored Israel, then we may reckon the two days from the cross (most say about 30 A.D.). This was also the time that “a door of faith” was effectually opened to the Gentiles. But most significantly, it marked the time that Jesus said, “your house is left to you desolate. Behold. I say to you, you will not see me again “until” you will say, ‘blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord.”

This is the time that “they shall look upon Me (in analogy to Joseph) whom they have pierced and mourn for Him as an only son and be in bitterness for Him as a firstborn….” (Zech 12:10).

It is ludicrous to deny the presence of a gap in the history of revelation. The mystery of Christ cannot be explained apart from it. There are many examples where a gap is implied if prophecy hasn’t failed.

I call it, “the glory of the gap,” because it is at the heart of the hidden mystery of God that was fully foretold in the prophetic writings (Acts 26:22; Ro 16:25-26; 1Cor 2:7-8; 1Pet 1:11).

At the end of the seventieth week the sealed vision will be revealed to Israel “in one day” (Isa 66:8; Ezek 39:22; Zech 3:9), as it was once revealed to the church of the first fruits at the end of 69th week.

Well, that’s how I see the time element. I hope in the future to write on the tremendous use that I believe God intends to make of the set times to evict Satan and bring the church to its final fullness in preparation for Israel’s resurrection.

One final thought: If we know that the 69 of Daniel’s weeks of years have been literally fulfilled, then it follows that God will be just as specific concerning the times that are left to be fulfilled. Certainly those living after the abomination and the revelation of the beast will know they are in the throes of the last persecution (Satan’s “short time;” Rev 12:12). Therefore, if that much will be certainly known by some at that time, what is the scriptural basis to say that it is not possible to know we are nearing the time of Jacob’s trouble at the end of the second millennium? reggie

Question: In a brief clear manner could you describe why its God’s will & importance that the present church accept Jacob’s trouble… ?

PS Already thoughtful of the event coming up in Sept…

I appreciate the question and will try to get you at least a personal and shorter version of it real soon, as the Lord will help me.

I will prepare you a little for my more thoughtful answer by briefly sharing something I believe the Lord gave me for my own weak memory. It may sound a bit contrived, but I believe it is from the Lord. It is this: You’ve heard it said that “the Devil is in the details.” Well, I say unto you that the Downfall of the Devil is in the Details of Daniel through Divine Determinism.

This is what Satan fears most, because it will mean that his time is short (Rev 12:12). Not only does the book of Daniel give the actual time schedule of God’s hidden purpose to Destroy the Devil through Messiah’s Death (Dan 9:24-26; 1Cor 2:8; Ro 16:25, 26), but the same prophecy also gives just as clearly the set and pre Determined time that Satan will be cast Down in the middle of Daniel’s final week (the seventieth week) to begin his “short time” of unparalleled destruction and persecution of the church and Israel (Dan 12:1 with Rev 12:7-10, 11-14).

Through the events of the last seven years (of which Jacob’s trouble is the second half; Jer 30:7; Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:1, 11, Mt 24:15, 21), first the church and then Israel will be brought to their appointed times of fullness that conclude the age. It is our view that before the grafting in of the natural branches with Christ’s return (Ro 11:26), the true body of Christ will be straightened to its appointed place of fullness and final demonstration through the constraining events of the first half of the week.

We believe the manifest fulfillment of time narrowing events will awaken and alert the true godly remnant who will enter into a Daniel-like earnestness of intercessory travail that will be assisted by Michael in the final eviction of Satan from heaven. We are persuaded that this time of the church’s travail will bring a deeper death to self that will issue in a deeper apprehension of the gospel and thus the fuller formation of Christ in His church (Dan 11:32-33; Ro 11:25; Gal 4:19; Eph 4:13; Rev 12:10).

The second half of the week begins with the abomination of desolation (Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:1, 11, Mt 24:15-16, 21). This is the time of Jacob’s trouble, also called Zion’s travail (Isa 13:7-8; 66:8; Jer 30:6-7; Mic 5:3; Dan 12:1), which ends in the day of the Lord. It will be used of God to bring Jacob to an end of his power ((Deut 32:36; Dan 12:7). Significantly, the end of power is the day of God’s power, the set time of transforming revelation (Ps 102:13; 110:3; Zech 12:10; Rev 1:7).

The church that understands the issues related to Jacob’s trouble will be able to benefit from the divine intention that God has invested in that time to bring both the church and Israel into their place. Knowledge and acceptance of this truth is crucial if such great and costly judgments and the glorious fulfillment of the prophetic Word will not be lost on our understanding and the clarity and decisiveness with which we be required to move. Also, it is through that understanding (particularly of Daniel’s vision) that the true remnant of the church will be able to instruct many (Dan 11:33; 12:3). This instruction will result in the salvation of an innumerable multitude (Rev 7:9) that will come to faith during the time of “the tribulation, the great one” (Rev 7:14; literal translation of the Greek double article). The key of interpretation and understanding will be the difference between life and death. It has always been so, but this will be particularly true of “those days” (Dan 12:7; Mt 24:19, 22, 29).

Not only will Jacob’s trouble straighten Israel to its appointed place; it will also further purify and perfect the church (Dan 11:33-35; 12:10). When the first travail of the heavenly woman (“the mother of us all,” i.e., all the elect) is completed with Michael’s pre-tribulational eviction of Satan at the mid-point of the last week (Isa 66:7 with Rev 12), the travail of Israel begins immediately with the revelation of the mystery of iniquity in the final man of sin (2Thes 2:3-4, 7-8). This time of travail is the time of Jacob’s trouble, also called the unequaled tribulation that ends in the day of the Lord and the sudden and supernatural birth of the nation “in one day” at the return of Christ (Isa 13:6-10; 26:16-17; 66:8; Joel 2:2-3, 6, 30-32; 3:2, 14-17, 20-21; Ezek 39:22; Zech 3:9; 12:10; 14:7; with Mt 23:39; 24:30; Acts 3:21; Ro 11:26 with Isa 59:19-21; Joel 2:31; 3:14-16 with Mt 24:21, 29).

All the great issues of God’s name and nature, his covenant contention, and pleading with the church, with Israel, and with the nations will come to its concentrated intensity and fullness, so that the mystery of God can be finished (Rev 10:7; 11:15) when Christ returns to destroy the Man of Sin (Isa 11:4 with 2Thes 2:8) and to re-instate the natural branches for the millennial vindication of the “everlasting covenant”.

All the great issues of the God and the gospel, sovereign election, authority and rule will be tested to the full. The lies that have bound and weakened the church and even more fatally deluded the nations will all be exposed and the veil that covers all nations shall be removed (Isa 25:7).

That’s just the tip of the iceberg of the importance that God attaches to this great transitional time that ends in the day of the Lord and begins a millennium of the open and public vindication of God in all that He “literally” spoke concerning Israel and the last days. The revelation of the believing remnant as the body of Christ did nothing to change the unchangeable Word of God concerning the future of national Israel, as the sign and seal of God’s power to perform all He promised. There can be no return of Christ apart from their return, since “what shall the receiving again of them be but life from the dead?”

We neglect and ignore the issues related to Jacob’s trouble to our own peril. It was Jesus that warned of a time of deception like no other (Mt 24:27) and instructed us to read and understand Daniel (Mt 24:15), and to take heed to His foretelling of all things (Mt 24:25; Mk 13:23) as the only means of escape.

Neglect of His directive to read Daniel’s prophecy with understanding and to fail to take heed to all He foretold is to doom oneself to sure and certain deception (Mk 13:14, 23)  Furthermore, Paul warned that neglect of “this mystery” (Ro 11:25) would result in the pride that goes before a no less fatal fall as befell the natural branches (Ro 11:18-22). The pride that boast itself as in any way above what happened to Israel dooms itself to a similar exposure and judgment, in all probability when many will turn a blind eye to Jacob in his calamity. Judgment must begin with the house of God (1Pet 4:17), as only a church that has come to the end of its power can be entrusted to be the witness that moves Jacob to jealousy while he is on the way to being brought to the end of his.

The test concerning “the Jew in our midst” has always been a watershed of exposure between the true and the false church. It shall be so again in a much more ultimate and openly decisive way. The false church of apostate Christendom that was so largely and directly responsible for the deep anti-Semitism of ‘Christian’ Europe will meet its final and utterly fatal test over the fast developing “controversy of Zion” (Isa 34:8; Zech 12:2-3), when once again, many will stumble over the mystery.

As the Christ-child was set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, for a sign that would be spoken against, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed, even so has God set the crisis of Israel, particularly the question of the Land, as a test stone of division within the church itself. I feel certain that the issue of Israel, precisely because it does carry in it so many of the great issues of the faith, particularly God’s prerogative in election, will be in its own right a set stone of stumbling, by which many will break or be broken.

Well, that’s the short of it for now. Your brother, Reggie

Hi Reggie, Glad you are doing a seminar in September, wish we could go. I have been wondering about Is 11:11-16 and Is 19:20-25 – the drying up of the Nile, a future highway for the remnant of His people and a confederation between Egypt, Israel and Syria. I have heard some say there will be a new nation made of present day Syria and Iraq into Assyria. Do you think these events are in the Millennium or just prior? It is amazing to think of Egypt as one day a nation who will honor God. I don’t hear many speak about this. Thanks.

The key phrase in all of these texts is “in that day.” There is one passage in particular that is decisive in showing that Isa 11:15-16 is fulfilled at the day of the Lord after the tribulation. It is Isa 27:12-13. The language is nearly the same in describing the return of the beleaguered remnant in connection with the miraculous dry crossing of the Nile. Only here, this “second” gathering of Israel (Isa 11:11) is signaled by “the great trumpet.” There can be no doubt that this is “the great sound of a trumpet” that Jesus mentions in connection with His post-tribulational return and the gathering of the elect (Mt 24:29-31). Here’s further evidence for that:
 
Chapters 24 to 27 of Isaiah have been called by scholars, “Isaiah’s little apocalypse.” This is because the narrative and context throughout these chapters is continually the post-tribulational deliverance Israel and the resurrection of the dead (see Isa 25:7-8; 26:19). It is very important to note that these events are inseparable. Where there is one, there is the other, and the time of both is very clearly AFTER the tribulation.
 
It can hardly be missed that the miraculous drying of the Nile in association with the ‘great trumpet’ of Isa 27:12-13 is parallel to Isa 11:15-16. The recovery of Israel “the second time” to the Land (Isa 11:11) is shown to be accompanied by the same miraculous phenomena in both places, only Isa 27:12-13 adds mention of the great trumpet.

Not only does Jesus mention a trumpet in connection with His return and the ‘gathering of the elect’ (see also 2Thes 2:1), but Paul also mentions a trumpet in connection with Christ’s return and the resurrection of the church, which trumpet Paul calls, “the last” (1Cor 15:52). By comparing scripture with scripture (line upon line), we can see the times and relationships of events as they line up with the day of the Lord.

That Paul has the same trumpet in view in 1Cor 15:52 is put beyond reasonable question when it is considered that he tells us precisely which time and which resurrection is in view. It is the time of the resurrection of the saints of the Old Testament Isa 25:8; 26:19). It is plainly evident that Paul is deliberately associating the time of the church’s translation with the time of the resurrection of the Old Testament saints. He clearly says that the time of the ‘last trump’ is also the time of the resurrection mentioned in Isa 25:8. This is precisely what Paul is doing when he says, “Then shall be brought to pass the saying which is written …” (1Cor 15:54). 

When is “then”? Well, to the chagrin of pre-tribulational teaching, “the saying” is written in Isa 25:8, which is undeniably situated in a post-tribulational context. This is ignored by pre-tribulational teaching. Paul’s statement, “then shall be brought to pass the saying which is written,” is passed over in convenient silence. However, then means then, and Paul’s “then” is manifestly the time of the last trump.

Who can deny or ignore that the resurrection of Isa 25:8 is also the time of Isaiah’s personal resurrection in Isa 26:19? (see also Dan 12:1-2, 13, which shows that Daniel is also raised AFTER the tribulation). Significantly, the resurrection of Isa 25:8; 26:19 occurs in the same general context as the “great trumpet” of final return mentioned in Isa 27:13. Paul’s knowledge of both Jesus and Isaiah’s mention of a trumpet in connection with the events commonly associated with the day of the Lord can hardly be imagined to be speaking of entirely different times and events, as in pre-tribulational eschatology.  
  
Notice also that this return includes every surviving Jew to the last man (Ezek 39:28). This has never happened yet. Isaiah calls this return, “the second time” (Isa 11:11). This is difficult, but any return that is not attended by the specifically described miraculous phenomena, at the time specified (“great trumpet” etc.), cannot be the regathering that Isaiah has in view in this prophecy. Context matters! We might say the present return is a providential and necessary first stage. It is definitely in fulfillment of express prophecy and the required conditions of prophecy (Jer 30:3; Dan 12:1; Ezek 38:8; Zeph 2:1-2; Joel 3:2; Zech 12:2-3; 13:8-9; 14:2). But anything short of this is not “that” which was spoken of by Isaiah (i.e., Isaiah’s “second time”).

No, this final and permanent recovery of the beleaguered remnant to the Land is in repentance and faith. It is always accompanied by specifically described miraculous phenomena (Isa 11:15-16; 27:12-13; 35:1, 6; 41:17-18; 43:19-20). This great and everlasting return follows upon the resurrection of the righteous and the “great trumpet” at Christ’s return (Zech 12:10; Ro 11:25-26). There are indeed mysteries, but the time could hardly be clearer.
 
With these manifest connections in view, it is clear that all of this takes place at the great day of the Lord, which, of course, comes at the end of the great tribulation (Mt 24:29 with Acts 2:20). This is the fixed point of ultimate transition between this age and the next. To always note this is an important key to the interpretation of the eschatology of both testaments.  
 
I also notice that Egypt is not among the nations that come down in the initial Antichrist invasion of Israel (Ezek 38:5-6). Though Ezekiel is otherwise quite prolific in his mention of Egypt in many places throughout the book, here, when it comes to the specific armies of the Antichrist (Ezek 38:17), Egypt is conspicuous for its absence. 
 
Dan 11:42 shows why. There we see that Egypt is not conquered by the Antichrist until sometime towards the end of the tribulation, which manifestly began with the abomination of Dan 11:31. This means that Egypt is not one of the ten kings that unite with the Antichrist in his initial invasion of Jerusalem.
 
It also seems quite significant that Egypt is not mentioned in Ps 83, which lists the 10 nations of Israel’s perennial foes. Here, they are confederated with one sworn objective: The cutting off of Israel, not only from being a nation, but from being any more in remembrance (Ps  83:4). Certainly, ‘this’ is the “everlasting hatred” (Ezek 35:5). These are the nations that I’ve always believed are in view in Daniel’s reference to the ten nations that accompany the Antichrist in his attack on Jerusalem. Daniel would have known this Psalm.
 
These are the nations of antiquity that were continually mentioned in prophecy. It just happens that their modern counterparts make up much of the Islamic world, including those warring kings in Dan 11:27 that are able to mend their differences long enough to plot together in their mutual hatred against “the holy covenant” (Dan 11:28, 30; i.e., Israel’s divine right to Jerusalem). Significantly, the Antichrist shares Islam’s demonic obsession to possess Jerusalem with complete intolerance of any Jewish claims. 
 
This brings to mind one final thought: Whoever the Antichrist turns out to be, one thing seems beyond dispute: He will be able to exploit this ‘ancient hatred’ to his desire to usurp the appointed place of Messiah’s rule from Jerusalem. Those looking for candidates for an Antichrist from a presumed “revived Roman Empire of Western Europe” should ask why the Islamic world would suspend their zealous quest to set a Muslim on the throne of Jerusalem in order to install the Pope or some other leader of the West (Prince Charles (?) etc. etc.)

This, and the inadequacy of many of the interpretations that I’ve heard, has inclined me to look further than the popular expectation of a Roman Antichrist.  In view of a futurist interpretation of Dan 8:9; 11:21-30, along with Ezek 35, 36, 38, Obadiah, and Ps 83, it just doesn’t add up. I believe the world will be caught up in the ancient feud that began in Abraham’s tents between the descendants of Ishmael and Esau, and the descendants of Isaac and Jacob. It’s all about the demonic war over covenant election. More ultimately, it’s all about grace and works.   
 
I realize that the fourth kingdom of Daniel’s prophecy was Rome, but most of these lands were once within the territorial reach, if not direct rule, of Rome. It is also well to remember that Rome had an eastern division as well as a western. It should not escape our notice that these lands are a prominent part of the Islamic world of today. 
 
Furthermore, it is not entirely certain that the four kingdoms of Daniel are intended to be reckoned strictly in terms of territory. The great world dominions of the gentiles can also be seen in the more generic sense of the comprehensive dominion of man, the mystery of iniquity in its distinct stages of progress until its completion in the revelation of the ‘man of sin’ (2Thes 2:4, 7-8). That’s another way to look at it.   
 
I also note that the former kingdoms are depicted as continuing to live on in the successive kingdoms until the stone cut out without hands breaks in pieces and destroys “all these kingdoms” at once (Dan 2:44). Even then, their ‘dominion’ is taken away, but “their lives are prolonged for a season and a time” (Dan 7:12). This is curious language, but if we note that the time is set in relation to the destruction of the beast in Dan 7:11, and the universal sway of Christ in Dan 7:13-14, then it seems clear that these kingdoms continue to exist as nations throughout the millennium, only now without their former teeth and claws. 
 
Well, that went a little beyond your question, but I would rather be too thorough than too skimpy. 

Let me hear how you are doing. I return often in my thoughts and prayers to some of the things we prayed about when I was down there. 

Much love, reggie

Dear Reggie,
Do you place Ez. 38 in the timeline as outlined in Dan. 11? Or do you see this event as happening before this? Any insight you can share on this would be appreciated.

Thankfully, this is one I believe I can answer in a short space, but to make the full case, would take more time than I can grab just now. You frame the question very well. I believe that a comparison with other scriptures will show that Ezekiel’s vision of the war on the covenant is comprehensive of the entire tribulation from the time the covenant is broken until Armageddon.

We see from Daniel and elsewhere that the war has two stages. There are two assaults on Jerusalem at both ends of Jacob’s trouble. Gog’s war on the recently regathered inhabitants of the Land (Ezek 38:8) covers the whole time of the Jerusalem’s desolation from the breaking of covenant to Armageddon.

Remember that Israel is dwelling securely when Gog comes down. At no time beyond the abomination could Israel be said to be dwelling safely (Rev 11:2). Note that this could NOT be the security of post-millennial Israel. It is the deceptive security that follows the presumptuous ‘league’, or ‘covenant with death and hell” (Isa 28:15; Dan 8:25; 9:27 11:23). This is further proven by the reference made to this particular kind of security described in Ezek 39:26. It is a security in which Israel’s sins only increase. This is not true of Israel’s millennial security. I believe this is the “time of tranquility” described in Dan 11:24, which follows upon the league made with ‘vile person’ in Dan 11:23. In other words, here is the false security of the first 3 1/2 years of Daniel’s seventieth week.

The contrast between this security and millennial security is enormous. At the end of the millennium at the time of Satan’s momentary release, Israel has been abiding in the everlasting righteousness of covenant promise (Jer 32:40; Dan 9:24). The security that Israel enjoys in the Land throughout the millennium is based on the transformation that began at the day of the Lord (Isa 66:8; Ezek 39:22-29) and is guaranteed of unfailing continuance unto children’s children ((Isa 54:13; 59:21). They shall “all” be holy “from that day and forward” (Isa 4:3; 60:21; Jer 31:34; 32:40; Ezek 39:22).

No, it is manifest that whatever the nature of this security, it is one that has only increased Israel’s presumption. So this cannot be the security of post-millennial Israel, as some scholars suppose. Rather, the comparatively “recent” return of Ezek 38:8 is the necessary preliminary regathering to the Land that ends in Jacob’s trouble and the great day of God (compare Rev 16:14-17 with Ezek 39:8).

But also notice that Gog is not destroyed until the day of Israel’s national salvation (Ezek 39:17-22; Rev 19:17-18, 21). This means that Gog arrives when Israel is dwelling securely and continues his assault throughout the entire 42 months of great tribulation (Rev 11:2). Of course, this means that Gog is either the Antichrist or the spirit of Satan that incarnates him. This seems very clear from Ezek 38:17, since there is only one of whom ‘all’ the prophets of Israel spoke ‘continually’.

So the battle happens in stages. First, the Antichrist with his ten nation confederacy sweeps down like a flood (Dan 9:26; 11:22) on Israel and places the abomination (Dan 11:31). Then, towards the end of the tribulation, many nations revolt against the Antichrist. This is the time in view in Dan 11:40-45 and Rev 16:13-14) when all nations begin their advance on Jerusalem. Dan 11:44 seems clearly to indicate that these nations are coming against the Antichrist. At the news of their advance, the Antichrist then “goes forth with great fury to destroy and utterly annihilate.” [This I believe is the catalyst of the great nuclear holocaust which many scriptures graphically depict (Isa 13:13; 24:6, 15, 19-20; Ezek 39:6; Joel 2:30; Zech 14:12). Apparently the Lord’s return arrests the process of man’s self destruction (Mt 24:22: Rev 11:18).]

Therefore, I hold the view that Ezekiel 38-39, like Zech 14, is a comprehensive view of both aspects of the attack on Jerusalem. First, the attack of the ten nations directly allied with the Antichrist, who is able to utilize the support, if not completely command, the armies of the nations listed in Ezek 38:3-6. Towards the end, there is another descent of the world’s armies, this time against the Antichrist who has made his seat in Jerusalem. This later mobilization of armies is shown by a comparison of Dan 11:44 with Rev 16:12-14. However, even if the nations are initially advancing against the Antichrist, they will meet instead the returning Son of God (Rev 19:15 with 2Thes 2:8; where Paul cites the Septuagint translation of Isa 11:4).

One may ask, how do we reconcile a mobilization of nations against the Antichrist in Dan 11:44 with the “war on the Lamb” of Rev 17:14; 19:19? I believe the answer lies in the inherent defiance this represents against the Word of God. Even if the nations descend upon Jerusalem in this later stage with the initial motive of throwing off the yoke of Antichrist, still, this exercise in futility is regarded as an attack on the Lamb, because it is in defiance of an everywhere preached prophetic testimony that has manifestly been ignored by the nations. An attack on Jerusalem, even if it is to cast off the oppressive yoke of the Antichrist, is no less an attack on the Lamb, because it is in clear defiance of the the prophetic Word of God.

Reggie

I came across your comments on the origin of the Antichrist, I would
like to hear your opinion on the ” fusion ” that will happen between
the Catholicism of Europe and Islam. Also the re-appearance of GERMAN Military Power seems to be in the mix.

Actually, I’m spread so thin on this kind of thing that I really don’t keep up as well as many with world happenings and their relationship to prophecy. I’m no expert on the behind the scenes workings of things that seem to enable many to ‘connect the dots’. I’m not, however, opposed to that kind of thing, provided it doesn’t end up militating against the clear and basic outline that Jesus intended that we get from Daniel. So I would certainly appreciate seeing anything that has impressed you along these lines. I just haven’t had the luxury or any compelling leading to do the necessary home work.

My view is that IF we set our hearts, like Daniel, to “understand” what is written in the Scripture of truth (Dan 10:12, 21) in order to see how the prophetic scriptures line up (not only through close exegesis, but a deep dependency on the mercy that alone grants the Spirit’s illumination), then we will be able to recognize all that is necessary to not miss any of the critical turns that lie ahead. I believe a careful obedience to follow the Lord’s express instructions to ‘pay attention to Daniel’ (Mt 24:15 – “Let the reader understand,” i.e., understand what Daniel wrote) is critical in three vital areas:

1) Our protection from unequaled deception (Mt 24:4, 11, 24; Mk 13:23; 2Thes 2:3).

2) Our readiness to follow where God is taking the church corporately through the constraining influence of these specifically timed events.

3) Our ability to understand the true essence of what is at stake in terms of what these events reveal, but most importantly to apprehend with all saints the full weight of glory that God has invested in this eschatological vision (Isa 28:12; Dan 9:24; 12:9-10; Hab 2:2-3; Ro 11:25-36; Rev 10:7).

It all begins with our obedience to simply ‘do’ what Jesus said. Jesus had a wise and glorious strategy in this simple but vital instruction. When we go to Daniel in search of that particular event (the abomination of desolation; Mt 24:15), we find it specifically mentioned in Dan 8:11-14; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11. Jesus well knew that the prayerful inquirer would not only find the mentioned event and sufficient evidence of its nature, but also the other signal events that lead up to the abomination (Dan 11:23-31) and those that following after (Dan 11:31-45).

The Lord also knew that our identification of the abomination and its relation to other prophesied events would bring into view the mysterious gap separating Messiah’s two comings to Israel (Dan 9:24-27), and the pre-determined time frame of the last seven years (Daniel’s last or seventieth week; Dan 9:27), which is ordained to bring in the Antichrist and the finishing of the mystery of iniquity (Dan 8:11; 9:27; 11:31-37; 12:11; 2Thes 2:4, 7-8). Jesus knew that our locating the time and nature of the abomination of desolation would constitute THE key that would bring into clarity and alignment all other prophecy leading to the climactic fulfillment of the covenant in the day of the Lord.

He knew the use the Father had intended to make of this specifically revealed pre-determined time frame to depose Satan (Dan 12:1 with Rev 12:7-14), and to crowd the church to its final fullness (Dan 11:32-33; 12:10; Eph 4:13; Rev 12:10-11), and Israel to the place of repentance by the removal of their power (Lev 26:19; Deut 32:36; Dan 12:7; the “set time” to favor Zion; Ps 102:13 w/ 110:3; Ezek 39:22). Thus finishing the mystery that brings the age to its predestined consummation (Rev 10:7). So much is invested in this simple exercise of following the Lord’s instruction to read Daniel in search of this event, which to neglect will surely prove very costly if not fatal (Mk 13:22).

I agree that there are many worthwhile things to consider. It will be glorious to see how some of these things fall into place, and I’m sure there will be surprises, but no speculation concerning possible scenarios compares to the VITAL importance of following through on the Lord’s express and definite command to go to Daniel in order to understand this central event, so pivotal to the alignment of the entire prophetic picture.

Yours in the Beloved, Reggie

Brother Reggie,

An easy question: do you think the Anti-Christ and his false prophet are Jews? As Jesus and his prophet were, it seems to me it would be required that they would also be Jews. But what thinkest thou?

Yes, the question is easy, but not so much the answer, since to show the scriptural case for my view would require more time than I can take out just now.

I fully appreciate your sense of symmetry concerning what would indeed seem appropriate for the Antichrist to be a false messiah and the false prophet to be analogous to John the Baptist as a forerunner of the Messiah, but for a number of reasons (some I’ve touched on slightly before), I do not believe the Antichrist will present himself to the Jews as their Messiah, but to the Muslim world as the incarnation of Allah.

The only thing clearly stated about the geographical origins of the Antichrist is found in Dan 8:9 and 11:21. There he is depicted as coming out of one of the four ‘notable horns’ (i.e., one of the four divisions of Alexander’s kingdom).I believe his origins in both geography (Dan 8:9; 11:21) and descent (spiritual if not entirely genetic), will be from among the descendants of Ishmael and Esau (Ps 83; Isa 34:5-6, 8; Ezek 35-36, Obadiah 1:6-17) together with those nations (Ezek 38:5-6) that will support them in their final prosecution of “the everlasting hatred” (Ezek 35:5). Hence, I believe that the ten kings allied with the Antichrist will be Islamic, if not entirely Arab. For reasons I hope to explain in future correspondence, I’ve had this view since 1973 when the Lord revealed it during the Yom Kippur War.

Whether or not I am correct in my view of the ten kings, it should be evident to anyone that the Antichrist, regardless of his origin, will be able to command the forces of the Islamic world through a common hatred of what Daniel calls “the holy covenant” (Dan 11:28, 30). Not only in Daniel, but in the larger context of Old Testament prophecy, this final war against the covenant is depicted as a presumptuous defiance of God’s claim to the Land, the city of Jerusalem, and the sacred institutions of a restored Jewish worship. (Side note: The sacrifices that will be restored by unbelieving Jews are entirely without efficacy. This will become clear when they find themselves again cast out of the Land in flight from the Antichrist. Still, the “holy pace” in Jerusalem has real significance. As a divinely commanded token of the covenant, it remains holy and set apart, not simply because it is sacred to Jews, but by reason of the Word of God. Its sanctity does not inhere in the faith of the worshippers, but in the authority of the God who elects. This is why Satan desires to defile the place that bears God’s name, and to possess the city from which the Son is destined to rule all nations; Ps 2:1-12; Ps 48:2 with Isa 14:13).

Note that it is this act in particular that constitutes the supreme offense. It is the ultimate provocation that causes God’s fury to come up in His face (Isa 63:3-4; Ezek 38:18; Joel 3:2). It is my prayer that the church will give itself to investigate what this issue of the Land means to God and why it represents what it does. I believe it is the issue of His sovereign right to choose as He will choose, His rule, which to ignore or defy is to challenge the very Word of God. It is the test of “has God really said?”

“The controversy of Zion” (Isa 34:8; Zech 12:2-3) will be a re-visitation of the quarrel that began in the tents of Abraham, which, according to the literal interpretation of prophecy, reaches its climax in the days just before Christ’s return, when Esau’s anguished cry of protest is raised once again against Jewish covenant claim, particularly as it pertains to the Land. However, Scripture shows that beyond the bitter judgements of the unequaled tribulation of Jacob’s trouble, the remnant of Edom (Amos 9:12), as also Assyria and Egypt will turn to the Lord to become the third with Israel, “even a blessing in the midst of the land” (Isa 19:24-25). We are reminded of the scene in Genesis when Jacob goes out with a limp to meet his brother. After a long night of intense wrestling with the Angel of the Lord’s presence, the once scheming Jacob, divinely touched in the ‘thigh of his strength’ (Deut 32:36 with Dan 12:7), has become the broken and contrite Israel of God, able now to bless all nations through the indwelling Spirit of Christ.

[Side note: Of course, the issue of ‘divine right’ to the Land has nothing at all to do with Jewish ‘worthiness’. It is the issue of God’s irrevocable calling and election (Ro 11:29). In that sense alone, Israel is counted by God as ‘holy’ in the sense of set apart (Ro 11:16), even before they are made personally holy by the powerful intervention of God (Ps 110:3; Isa 66:8; Zech 12:10) at the “set time” to favor Zion (Ps 102:13; Ro 11:25-29). It is no accident that the question of Jerusalem is the perennial “sticking point” in every effort to achieve peace in the region. Prophecy calls the Land “My land” and “their land”, despite the fact that its Jewish inhabitants are outside of covenant favor and appointed to “Jacob’s trouble” (Jer 30:6-7; Dan 12:1; Mt 24:21), which is the climax of what God calls “the vengeance of the covenant” (Lev 26:25). I point this out only because many prominent leaders in evangelicalism are now declaring that the Jew has no “divine right” to the Land, at least not until they are made personally holy through regeneration. However, if the modern contention over the Land has no more covenantal significance than ‘a border dispute between Mexico and the United States’, then why does prophecy depict the age coming to its predestined end over this very question?]

“After the league made with him” (Dan 11:23), this “vile person,” who is also a “king” (Dan 11:36) of a comparatively smaller province (“a little horn”), “begins to work deceitfully, as he comes up and becomes strong with a small people” (Dan 11:23). Here is a key passage that many commentators (with a few notable exceptions) wrongly assign to an alleged fulfillment in the second century B.C., supposing it to be fulfilled by the Syrian tyrant, Antiochus Epiphanes IV. Even where Antiochus fulfilled certain aspects of the prophecy, the fulfillment is by no means exhaustive. In fact, some aspects were not fulfilled by Antiochus at all, suggesting more of the relationship between type and anti type. In certain particulars Antiochus IV indeed prefigures the coming Antichrist, but in other details noted in the prophecy, the Antichrist is unique and without precedent.

If we take the view that Dan 11:23 is a reference to the coming Middle East peace covenant (as I believe we must for a number of reasons I hope to set out in a future writing), then it follows that this event marks the beginning of the last seven years (Daniel’s seventieth week; Dan 9:27 with Dan 11:31; 12:11). This would also mean that the events that occur between Dan 11:23 and Dan 11:31 happen within the first 3 1/2 years and therefore signal the approach of the desolating sacrilege that starts the second half of Daniel’s seventieth week, the last 3 1/2 years. We believe that this chronological sequence of signal events will profoundly affect the preparation and readiness of the saints for the great tribulation.

BEFORE he invades Jerusalem ‘at a time of security’ (Isa 28:18; Ezek 38:8; 39:26; Dan 11:23-24; 1Thes 5:3), the one who will be revealed as the Man of Sin (Dan 11:36-37; 2Thes 2:4) will first conquer a king to his south (Dan 11:25-26). After the battle, the defeated king of the south joins the victorious king of the north in what appears to be a plot against Jerusalem (Dan 11:27). Momentarily defeated in their plan (“for yet the end shall be at the time appointed,” which we may be sure entails the final desolation of Jerusalem, the evident goal of their clandestine plan), the victorious king persists in his ambitions against the holy covenant. He now turns back to have “intelligence” with others throughout the region that are equally opposed to the holy covenant (Dan 11:30). This will most likely be some kind of secretive counsel among those who are planning the overthrow of Jerusalem, since Israel will not know his plans until it is too late). .

I believe that the ten kings that give their strength and power to the beast (Dan 7:24; Rev 17:12) will be those who are angrily opposed to the holy covenant (Note that In Dan 9:27 the Antichrist (“the prince that shall come”) confirms (strengthens or gives formal approval) the covenant with many. This implies that the Antichrist will give a pretentious and insincere acknowledgement of Jewish right to the Land (the holy covenant; Dan 11:28, 30). Evidently, the new political situation that is brought about through ‘the league’ made with the Antichrist (Dan 11:23) opens the way for the orthodox party in Israel to proceed with their plans to restore the temple service in Jerusalem).

After the Antichrist conquers a mighty army to his south (Dan 11:25-26), a defeat that was aided by internal treachery (Dan 11:26), both of these kings, the conqueror and the conquered, sit together at one table to devise what appears to be a joint plot against the holy covenant, i.e., Jewish possession of Jerusalem.

Though momentarily disappointed in their plans to take Jerusalem (Dan 11:27), the Antichrist does not relent in his ambitions against the holy covenant until a third southward advance is successful, as Jerusalem is overwhelmed by invading armies (compared to a flood in both Dan 9:26 and Dan 11:22). At this time, the abomination of desolation is placed in the inmost part of the sanctuary, as the city is taken and the holy places overrun by the gentiles (Isa 63:18; 64:10-11; Rev 11:2). A comparison of Dan 11:31 with Dan 12:1, 11, and Mt 24:15-16, 21 shows beyond dispute that this is the event that begins the great tribulation.

Now let me tell you something that for me seems very compelling. It was suggested to me by a close brother, Travis Bennett, who lived with us on our farm in Texas before we moved to Ben Israel; it has never left me. Travis pointed out that the Antichrist who begins as a “little horn” (head of a smaller country or province) and who significantly comes up “AFTER” the other ten (Dan 7:24), is shown later to come into what is evidently a much more sizable kingdom through deceit and intrigue (Isa 28:15; Dan 8:25; 11:21, 23).

Scholars working on the assumption that the prophecy refers to Antiochus Epiphanes IV in the second century B.C. neglect to explain how Antiochus’ ascent to the throne of Syria, one of the four “notable horns” of Alexander’s divided kingdom (Dan 8:8-9, 22-23) could be considered a ‘little horn’ (an insignificant power). In the second century B.C., the kingdom of Syria was not an insignificant power. Nor did Antiochus unite under him a confederacy of ten kings.

So how does the vile person of Dan 11:21 proceed from his original capacity as a ‘little horn’ to become regent over a much larger domain, as the new head of the ten nation confederacy that is violently pledged to seize possession of Jerusalem? (Dan 11:45 with Rev 11:2).

Travis suggested that the ‘little horn’ might be the “Johnny-come-lately” to the region, as the newly formed Palestinian state that is currently so much the goal of international politics. Whether this comes about, it certainly makes sense. It seems to me a very viable possibility to keep in mind, as we watch events unfold.

According to Dan 11:23, it is “AFTER the league made with him,” that the ‘vile person’ of Dan 11:21 begins to work deceitfully. Significantly, the scripture says “he comes up and becomes strong with a ‘small people’, as he distributes the wealth among his followers “during a time of security” (Dan 11:23-24). The context assumes that Israel has now entered into its ill fated covenant with death and hell presuming that they will now have a secure peace (Isa 28:15; Ezek 38:8; 39:26; 1Thes 5:3), but it is a delusion that will end in a flood of sudden destruction.

Travis pointed out that according to Dan 11:21 there has been a momentary power vacancy in one of the ‘notable horns’ (Daniel’s imagery for the four divisions of Alexander’s kingdom), possibly Syria. The ‘vile person’, who is manifestly the ‘little horn’ of Dan 8:9, is someone who does not stand in the natural lineage of royal succession. This means that under ordinary circumstances royal honors would never have been conferred upon the man who will soon be manifest as Israel’s destroyer, the one we call the Antichrist. But here, contrary to all precedent, this ‘vile person’ “comes in at a time of security and obtains the kingdom by flatteries” (Dan 11:21).

This would mean that sometime after the false peace covenant (“the league made with him”), the Antichrist “through craft” (Dan 8:25) exploits an opportunity to move from a small power to one that is sizable and able to unite the ten kings against the holy covenant.

I do not hold this view with any final conviction, but until I can be shown a more compelling body of evidence to the contrary, I favor it over anything else I’ve heard. Though I hold it tentatively for now, I have the sense that this scenario may well prove to be more than a reasonable theory.

Finally, I personally do not expect that Jews, so far as it is known that they are Jewish, to have even the opportunity to take the mark of the beast. From the middle of the week till the end of the tribulation, Jews will be targeted for total destruction, because Satan knows better than the church that Jewish survival is necessary for the fulfillment of the everlasting covenant. I also believe that the test of the Jew will further distinguish the true church from the false, since to offer them assistance at that time will be a capital offense. Moreover, I believe it is the church’s part in ‘helping the woman’ that draws down upon its head the wrath of the Antichrist.

Appreciatively, your brother, Reggie

Hello Reggie,

I hope you are fine and well.

You know that the teachers of spiritual Israel are teaching that the time for Israel is over and that Jesus has fulfilled everything and nothing remains beyond the time of the LORD’S return to judge. They also mostly don’t believe in a millennium. That’s what alerted me again and again towards their teachings.

With this site here, I found more clarity, and I ask you to study this too. If this is a key to expose the probably false teaching behind the spiritual Israel teaching, then we need to study Daniel again!!!

Dear H., thank you for sending this. There’s such a wealth of interesting material here that I want to get to when time permits.

You mention Daniel and the issue of the millennium. I can’t say much at the moment, but I know you’ll agree that there much more at issue here than mere questions of how different texts should be interpreted. I believe the battle is more spiritual than that. I believe how we see Israel is a gauge of how we see God. The tragic story of the church’s historic rejection of God’s declared intentions towards Israel is beyond mere flesh and blood.

Since time will not permit more, I want to call your attention to just one verse that is telling of so many others. It is Daniel 2:44. Notice that the scripture says “in the days of these kings.” What days? What kings? Dan 7:24 makes clear that the kings in view here are the ten kings that are contemporary with the final Antichrist. In John’s apocalypse, he is the beast that tramples down Jerusalem for the last 42 months (Rev 11:2; 13:5) before Christ’s return. Thus, it could hardly be clearer that these then kings are immediate contemporaries of the Antichrist. They are united with him through their mutual hostility against “the holy covenant” (Dan 11:29, 30). In this context, the term “holy covenant” is clearly identified with the ‘literal’ holy places and institutions, which are situated in a very literal Jerusalem (Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11; Mt 24:15-16). Hence, the Antichrist’s assault on Jerusalem is a further chapter in Satan’s long war against the covenant, which in this context is shown to be inseparably related to the literal Land and people of Israel.

Now observe: Regardless of when the book of Revelation is dated, Rev 17:12 is clear in showing that none of the ten kings had as yet come to power (“And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings that shall arise, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast”). If, therefore, the ten kings are contemporaries with that particular beast (‘little horn’; Dan 7:8; 8:9; the ‘king of fierce countenance’ (Dan 8:23), the ‘vile person’ (Dan 11:21), the ‘willful king’ (Dan 11:36), ‘man of sin’ (2Thes 2:4) that is on the scene when Christ returns (2Thes 2:4, 8), then it could hardly be more clear that it is NOT UNTIL the destruction of the beast, this “last” beast (Dan 7:11; Rev 19:20), that the God of heaven sets up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed …” (Dan 2:44; 7:14)

Regardless of what form the kingdom has taken in the present revelation of “the mystery of the kingdom” (Mk 4:11; Col 1:13), this is clearly the millennial (post day of the Lord) phase of the kingdom. This kingdom is not “set up” (in this particular sense) until “the days of these kings,” and it is clearly ‘set up’ on earth (“under the whole heaven” (Dan 7:27), “fills the whole earth” (Dan 2:35).

But here is what I particularly want us to notice: “And the kingdom shall not be left to another people.” That is a very significant phrase. Who are the people that receive the kingdom at this time? Well, to be sure, it is the ‘saints of the most high’ (Dan 7:18, 22, 27), but that is not all it means. According to Dan 9:24; 10:14; 11:14; 12:1, the people in view are Daniel’s people in particular (“your people”), i.e., the Jews. That is what is meant when the scripture says “not left to another people.” The “kingdom shall return to Jerusalem” (Mic 4:8), and “He shall yet choose Jerusalem again” (Zech 1:17; 2:12). When? Unmistakably, it is ‘after’ the unequaled trouble, at the same time the dead are raised (Dan 12:1-2). That is when “your people” (Daniel’s people) shall be delivered, and not a moment sooner (Ps 102:13; Dan 11:35).

It is the day of the Lord, the time spoken of by all the prophets. It happens at the end of Jacob’s trouble (Jer 30:7 w/ Dan 12:1), the time of unequaled “great tribulation,” (Mt 24:21), which is started by the Antichrist’s fateful desecration of the holy place in Jerusalem (Isa 63:18; 64:10-11; Dan 11:31; 12:11; Mt 24:15-16, 21-31; 2Thes 2:4). What could be clearer? The kingdom will in fact be “restored to Israel” (Acts 1:6) precisely “in the days of these kings.” This future certainty of the kingdom restored to Israel is precisely the contrast that Jesus has in mind when He calls this present age “the times of the gentiles” (Ezek 30:3; Lk 21:24; Ro 11:25; Rev 11:2). A people called to prophetic discernment should be asking why is something so plain so hidden, and for so long?

As Christ returns to destroy the Antichrist (“in the days of these kings”), the elect remnant that has been preserved through the terrors of Jacob’s trouble now become the “saints of the most high” through new birth (Isa 66:8; Ezek 39:22) when they “shall look upon Him whom they pierced” (Zech 12:10, thus fulfilling the glorious type of Joseph’s self disclosure to his brethren; Mic 5:3-4). Certainly, this is much more than a physical kind of ‘seeing.’ The best analogy would be Paul’s transforming encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus.

To conceive, let alone accept, such a privileged status for the Jewish people in the future millennial kingdom is a great offense to the church’s deeply replacement orientation. But the kingdom will return to Israel, and it shall “NOT be left to another people.” For a while God has provoked Israel to jealousy through ‘another people’ (a ‘foolish nation’, a ‘not a people’ (Deut 32:21), but not forever (Deut 32:36; Dan 12:7). God shall yet require all nations to acknowledge and honor His love and special election of this people in particular (Isa 49:22-23; 60:9, 14; 66:20; Zech 8:23; 14:16-17). God has a point to make, and one reason the millennium separates this age from the eternal state is precisely to drive home that point.

God knows infinitely better than we the deep contention that Satan and the powers have against Israel’s restoration. Satan knows that their regeneration and return spells the end of his illicit rule. Their restoration is the ultimate threat to Satan, because of what they represent concerning the covenanted Word of God, since it is through them that God has chosen to very publicly and demonstrably sanctify His name in the sight of all nations (Ezek 39:27). This well explains Satan’s desperate attempt to destroy the woman, not only her spiritual seed, but the physical seed (the “natural branches”), as the elect vessel that God will set forth in the sight of all nations as His great statement.

The question has always been whether God can bring in (into abiding inheritance through holiness) the very same people that He first called out (Num 14:15-21; Ezek 36:22-23). The Jew is God’s own self-chosen “mission impossible.” They were meant to be. That’s why it’s no accident that the church is translated and Satan is bound precisely at the point that the Word of God is openly vindicated by the regeneration and return of this impossible people. But before God’s eschatological triumph, the “Jew in the midst” has always been a divinely ordained test among the nations to reveal hearts, particularly what calls itself the church. We may be sure that this test will be pressed in an even more ultimate way as the day approaches. Considering all that God has intended Israel to represent, it is no wonder why Paul was so urgent that believers should not “be ignorant of this mystery.” Mystery indeed!

Yours in the Beloved, Reggie

Reggie, I wanted to write and ask you a question about Isaiah 11:11 which says, “it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again the SECOND time to recover the remnant of His people who are left.” This is a verse that people use here in Israel to disprove another expulsion from the land, and from evaluating this verse alone I would have to say that they are right. I know it does not line up with many other scriptures so could you give me a brief explanation of how you have made sense of it.

Things are going pretty good for me here in Jerusalem. We have established a small community of believers here in the city that are meeting and worshipping on a daily basis. Currently I am praying about finding an apartment building to house several of us that we might live out community in a more focused way. Just waiting to see what the Lord provides.

O.k, I hope you are doing well. Your e-mail to Joel concerning Jewish right to the land was very helpful to me. I got a much greater clarity on some of the issues concerning Gush Katif and the giving up of land here in Israel.

Sept 10, 2005
J—, I see your difficulty. The context of Isa 11:11 speaks of the “glorious” return in final vindication of the covenant. Its larger backdrop is the post-tribulational-Day of the Lord deliverance of the penitent remnant resulting in final millennial righteousness and peace. ‘Jacob’s trouble’ must impose itself somewhere between the first and the second return. The problem subsists in the fact that the return that Isaiah calls the SECOND remains unfulfilled by anything approaching the demands of the context. Unless one is willing to see the present return as the first installment of a larger and more complete return at the end of the age, then Isaiah’s use of the word ‘second’ raises serious questions about the status of the present return. How is the modern return ‘A’ return of undeniable prophetic significance, but not ‘THE’ final and complete regathering that Isaiah designates as the ‘SECOND’? In other words, if context seems to require that Isa 11:11 has in view a future return of a fuller and more ultimate kind than currently evident in the modern return, and if that still future regathering is rightly called ‘the second’, then what is the meaning of the present return? If the present ‘return’ is not the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, what is it? Where in time do we locate this ‘second’ regathering referred to in Isa 11:11? Is this that which was spoken by the prophet? Or look we for another?

In my view, as in the view of many pre-millennial scholars of the 19th century, if prophecy is to receive a literal interpretation, there must be a partial return of Jews to the Land that necessarily precedes the nation’s corporate return to faith. This preliminary return prepares the way for the final and glorious return that attends the OT Day of the Lord (see in context Isa 27:13 ” ..and they shall come which were ready to perish ..” with Mt 24:22 “..but for the elect’s sake, those days shall be shortened”). The present return is on the wrong side of ‘Jacob’s trouble’ to count as the SECOND regathering of Isaiah’s prophecy, unless, of course, we can justify counting the present Jewish repatriation of the Land as an integral part of that future return, but that is an open question that is not apparent from the context itself.

In all of the particulars of context, the Isa 11 passage agrees with the greater number of return passages that describe a final post-tribulational return of ‘all Israel’ in total (Ezek 39:22-29; esp. Ezek 39:29). Until the ‘everlasting righteousness’ of Jer 32:40 and Dan 9:24 arrives at the end of Daniel’s 70th seven, the nation is divinely regarded as still in a state of exile subject to the curses of the broken covenant. All of the return passages, with a very few exceptions, assume that the final return comes only after the final and permanent turning of Israel’s long captivity, both spiritually and physically. There are, however, a few notable passages that describe what appears to be a preliminary and probationary return (wherein God’s face is still hidden from the nation, Ezek 38-39, esp. Ezek 39:22-29) after what appears a much longer period of exile, and only shortly before ‘the end’ (note: only ‘the end’ marks the end of the exile; see Jer 30:1-7; esp. Zeph 2:1-2; and Ezek 38:8, 11, 14 with what is implicit in Ezek 39:26; see also Dan 9:24-27; 11:21-12:13, as also a considerable number of post-first-return passages that assume for their setting a Jewish presence in the land BEFORE and IN ORDER TO the final judgments of the covenant.

Such necessary preliminary conditions are again depicted in Zechariah’s prophecy significantly written AFTER the first return, but still looking ahead to the final judgments terminating in the Day of the Lord and Israel’s final redemption ‘in the Land’ (showing clearly that the prophets living after the first return did not regard the ‘return prophecies’ of the former prophets as sufficiently fulfilled). Such necessary pre-conditions for a final ‘Jacob’s trouble’ did in fact prevail in all the centuries following the first return until the great Roman dispersion of 70-135 A.D that emptied the land of its Jewish occupancy, rendering the literal fulfillment of prophecy a foregone prospect. [Of course, Jewish absence from the Land strengthened the spiritualizing tendencies of ‘replacement theology’. I have in my library some of the books of those that stood their ground throughout this time insisting on the literal interpretation of prophecy on the assurance that the Jew must return to his Land BEFORE the final tribulation (Zeph 2:1-2).] The progressive return of modern times has gone far towards the vindication of their faith, because now once again, for the first time in nearly 2 millennia, the literal fulfillment of prophecy is in imminent prospect. That is to say, the modern return restores the necessary pre-conditions for history’s inexorable advance towards a final and unprecedented tribulation and Gentile assault on Jerusalem, the ‘without which not’ of the literal interpretation of prophecy.

The prophets that preached and wrote after the Babylonian exile understood that although a remnant had returned, it was not to the fullness of glory that all the former prophets had depicted in connection with, and necessarily attending, ‘the return’ and permanent end of exile. The great anomaly that the promised ‘return’ would not result in final salvation (as suggested by most of the prophecies describing the end of the exile), but that a yet more ultimate form of judgment (the unequaled tribulation of ‘Jacob’s trouble’) would necessarily FOLLOW the return was a source of profound amazement to Jeremiah (Jer 30:3-7). This was unexpected indeed! (Note that with the exception of Isa 11:11, two separate regatherings were seldom distinguished, and only then by mystifying details not evident except in retrospect, as in Ezek 38-39)

The disappointment of delay created another profound dilemma for the faith of Israel. The initial return was indeed a real ‘earnest’ of the promise, but it fell far short of the ‘glorious return’ that the PRE-exilic prophets all depict as accompanying the final redemption. Therefore, Isaiah had prophesied of a “SECOND” return showing the inadequacy of the first. What a mystery is developing here! No wonder there is so much confusion over the number of returns and the order of events leading to the final and enduring return. No doubt Daniel’s prophecy of a pre-determined extension of the exile and an ultimate apocalyptic conclusion provided timely explanation and grounds for patience for those returning from Babylon, simply because, on any reading of the former prophets, they would have naturally expected a much more glorious end to the exile. Instead, they returned to a “day of small things.” Who could have conceived that before the final tribulation (Jer 30:7; Dan 12:1), and the subsequent world-wide return described in Isa 11:11 that a yet much longer dispersion would impose itself? (the two days of Hosea 6:2). Many Jews expected a last days scenario that required a final Gentile assault on Jerusalem, but the sufferings of this period were expected to be brief (3 1/2 years according to Daniel) ending the ‘times of the Gentiles’ (a term not original with Jesus). Nothing of an age-long exile extending for what has now been almost two thousand years was known or imagined; it was a mystery! It was so intended.

The status of the present return gives the illusion of a final return only because a second age-long dispersion beginning with the Roman destruction of Jerusalem was not clearly distinguished in the prophets from the much shorter Babylonian captivity. (Note: Those who scorn the concept of a “gap”, or better, ‘hidden age’ between the 69th and 70th weeks of Daniel should consider that if such an interim is not recognized as necessarily implicit in these prophecies, establishing a necessary distinction between a near and partial fulfillment [first-fruits/earnest] and a future fulfillment that is complete and final, then the more serious problem of failed prophecy presents itself, something that liberal critical scholars like to refer to as ‘prophetic dissonance’, since it is certainly no loss to them if prophecy has failed. But quite on the contrary, it is this very phenomenon, in keeping with the divinely designed puzzle of Messiah’s twofold advent, that forms the context and conceptual framework of the mystery revealed in the NT. Hence, a so-called ‘gap’ is by no means without scriptural precedent, but is inherent in the mystery that was divinely hidden for judgment. Indeed, it was necessary for Israel to stumble at the mystery).

Therefore, the first return would see the Jews back in the Land, but still short of the eschatological salvation necessary to endure in the Land, thus looking ahead to an ultimate future tribulation that begins ‘in the Land’. In significant analogy with the first return, the Jews exist in the Land once more as a viable nation with restored covenant institutions (Dan 11:31; 12:1), but the exile continues so long as Israel remains under covenant jeopardy. Thus, the Jews of the modern return are in essentially the same position as those living in the Land after the first return. Though lately returned to the land, they remain subject to the same future tribulation and desolations that ‘the prophets of return’ predicted would persist until the ultimate deliverance of the still future Day of the Lord. The Jews in the Land today are no more ‘home free’ than that first remnant for whom Jacob’s trouble remained a future ‘necessity’ (“for that which is determined shall be done” Dan 11:36).

So do modern secular Jews have a ‘divine right’ to the Land? How are the nations to regard Jewish residency in the Land? The scripture is not silent, but clear IF certain OT passages are not relegated to the distant past, and they shouldn’t be, seeing that the context of many of these passages refer unambiguously to the conspicuously unfulfilled Day of the Lord. To be sure, the Jews of modern Israel are woefully short of the kind of covenant obedience necessary to retain possession of the Land, but so too were the Jews living in the centuries following the first return under Ezra and Nehemiah. But now, no less than then, the ancient people are gathered again to ‘His Land’; it is therefore theirs by sovereign decree. It is apparent from many of the passages describing God’s Day of the Lord judgments on the Gentile powers that He holds the nations ultimately responsible for their disregard of His election of the Jews, Jerusalem, and the Land, an election that is not based on moral qualification (Ro 9:11), which is precisely the point of divine contention. It is a re-visitation of the quarrel that began in the tents of Abraham. It is the age-old question of grace versus works, and of God’s sovereign prerogative to quicken whom He will when He will (Ps 102:13; 110:3; Jn 5:21).

The return under Ezra and Nehemiah was partial and preliminary and did not result in Israel’s final deliverance, thus covenant jeopardy continued, looking ahead to the shorter, but far more severe ‘exile’ of “Jacob’s trouble”. In the same way, the modern return is at best only partial and provisional looking forward to an apocalyptic conclusion of out-poured wrath and covenant vengeance. Therefore, the present ‘return’ cannot be the “second” return of post-salvation glory described in Isa 11:11. However, Jewish re-occupancy of the Land is certainly divinely ordained as the scene of God’s final pleading with His people, and will also serve as God’s final provocation of the nations, so that when the nations will lay presumptuous hands on the elect people and the revived institutions of their ‘holy covenant’, God’s ‘fury comes up in His face’; it is the ultimate provocation of divine wrath (see Ezek 38:18; Dan 11:21-45; Joel 3:1-2 et al). The Land must be again under Jewish occupancy in order to ‘finish the transgression’, which brings to final climax the “quarrel of My covenant” (Lev 26:25). For the nations, the question of God’s pre-destinating Word concerning the Jew and the Land (as permanent and inextricable features of the ‘everlasting covenant’) will become the final stumbling block through “the controversy of Zion” (Isa 34:8). This ultimate confrontation will carry in it all the issues of God in His divine contention concerning His covenant, and will thus shake both the heavens (principalities and powers) and earth, separating the wheat from the chaff. Say, that wasn’t so brief after all.

Love, Reggie

Reggie,
I had some thoughts in relation to what you’ve written here (somewhat tangentially), and I thought I’d run them by you. In recent days I’ve heard multiple people state that the devastation in New Orleans was a judgment of God in direct relation to America’s pressuring of Israel to move forward with the expulsion of the settlements in Gaza & the West Bank. One rabbi in Israel drew an even larger parallel saying it is part of a pattern of events beginning with the Sept. 11 attacks. He points out that in the months leading up to Sept. 11 there was a devastating terrorist attack in Israel (the Sbarro pizzeria bombing) that many thought would derail the “Road Map” peace process, but the President was firm in insisting that the process would proceed on schedule. Shortly thereafter America was the victim of a terrorist attack. So too with New Orleans, as America insisted that the Jews of Gaza and the West Bank be evicted now Americans are being evicted from their homes. The parallels are compelling, and that got me to thinking about the “controversy of Zion” from Isaiah 34 and the “vengeance of the covenant”, which you mention in your writing. Why is it called a controversy? Everyone who I’ve heard speak of New Orleans as judgment for America’s role in the expulsion has consistently taken the position that it happened because America pressured the Israelis into giving land to the Palestinians, or to put it more bluntly, because they sided with the Palestinians instead of the Jews. Although I find some merit in their arguments I’m not entirely comfortable with their conclusion. Could it be rather that the controversy is not that America “took the wrong side” and sided with the Palestinians instead of the Jews, but rather that America has taken up the issue of Zion at all? Is it rather that America (or any nation) has presumptively taken it upon itself to “fix” the situation in Israel and dole out to anyone, Jew or Palestinian, the land that God has said belongs to Him? I’m reminded of Zechariah 12:3 where it says that anyone that burdens themselves with Jerusalem will be cut in pieces, not necessarily because they have moved against the Jews but because they’ve taken it upon themselves to determine the final disposition of Zion/Jerusalem rather than recognizing that it belongs to God Himself and He will do with it as He will.

A while back I heard a rabbi quoting a sage who wrote 300 years ago, commenting on Genesis 25:12-19 that in the last days Ishmael (representing the Islamic world) will rise up in battle against Esau (representing the nominally Christian Western world, specifically the Roman world) in a world-wide conflagration. Ishmael will be defeated ultimately and Messiah will arise at that time to establish the Jewish people as pre-eminent. This scenario certainly seems to be coming to pass. It could even be argued that Britain’s role in establishing the new homeland for the Jews in 1948 and the collapse of their global empire and subsequent loss of power and prestige is the opposite corollary to America’s problems today. Now Britain and America, as the inheritors of the Roman mantle, are embroiled in a possibly age-ending war with the descendants of Ishmael, and all sides are taking up the burden of Jerusalem and stirring up the controversy of Zion. But the controversy of Zion will only be ended when the controversy that began in the tents of Abraham (as you say) is brought to an end. That will only happen when Ishmael “gives up the ghost” and is “gathered unto his people”, and afterwards we will see the establishment of “the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son” (Gen. 25:19).

These are just some thoughts, admittedly drawn from some unusual sources. I tend to dwell on the wilder shores of the theological world and so it’s sometimes good to have a reality check. Am I way off base here?

Thanks,
Jason

Sept 15, 2005
Jason, I share your view that it is less an issue of any particular bias towards Palestinians over Jews, but the presumption that takes up the issue of Zion in the first place. The question most to be asked, however, is what makes this issue such a point of stumbling to all who take it up? You have rightly said it is God’s Land, as this is destined to become the point that raises the more ultimate question of God’s rule.

The modern world is not relieved by time or evolving world-views from an unchangeable accountability to what God has spoken. However well disguised behind the involved debates over interpretation and biblical authority, the real point of conflict has always been over one question only: “hath God really said?” It is therefore an inexcusable humanistic arrogance that takes up the issue of Zion in an almost studied disregard for what God has said. For the athiest there is no God to decree anything (Ps 2:7); his question is “who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice? But for the religious humanist, God’s choice is limited and determined by present (or foreseen) ethical qualification, but it is precisely the reverse (Ro 9:11). Hence, God’s word of election is set aside in the interest of humanistic ethical assessments, all very convincing, but in ultimate defiance of God’s rule, particularly as His rule (decree) presents itself as a rule of grace and not of works, the underlying issue that is always most ultimately at stake. The offense is all the more compounded by the fact that ‘the Jews’ do not seem to “deserve” any special right to the Land. After all, they are far from covenant obedience; they certainly haven’t returned by any supernatural power, and their presence in the Land has come through what appears a natural evolution of events that can all be reasonably explained. Thus, if our view is correct, we are seeing a process that will prove an ultimate snare and point of stumbling for humanism in all its forms, religious and secular. So I share your conclusion enthusiastically.

I know of the rabbinical view that you mention, but do not see Rome or the modern West as Esau. With David Baron, particularly his commentary on Zech 5, I see the West humbled and brought under subjection to the Islamic world under Antichrist who will lead the descendents of both Ishmael and Esau against the ‘holy covenant’ in the last conflict. Any triumph over Islam will be only momentary and will acutally create an illusion (“in time of security” Dan 11:24 ASV) that will meet with furious backlash from the Antichrist led forces of the Islamic world at a time of compromised vigilance (‘when they shall say peace and safety’). I do not expect Antichrist to come from a so-called ‘Revived Roman West’, or the Roman church, nor do I expect a Jewish deceiver, but rather, a descendent of Esau from the immediate region, a ‘little horn (power), that “comes up and becomes strong through a small people” (Dan 11:23) before he becomes the head of a larger power to the north of Israel (Syria?). I believe the ten nation confederacy will be comprised from the nations of Israel’s ancient enemies, now Arab and Islamic (Ps 83). Long story, but I thought I’d add that. Appreciatively, Reggie

My question is if you only had time to go through a few choice texts on this issue, which one’s would you use to demonstrate God’s eschatological dealings with mankind?

I would begin with the Lord’s Olivet prophecy in Mt 24, particularly Mt 24:15. In my view, it is the single most important text on which to build a sound understanding of the order and nature of the last day’s events.

In only one place is the question is expressly asked, “What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?” Jesus’ answer is clear and forthright, but He presents His answer as incomplete until we have followed His personal instruction to go to Daniel for further understanding (“whoever reads, let him understand”).

There is a simple but profound strategy at work here, and it all begins with our care to honor the Lord’s command to read and understand Daniel, particularly Daniel’s reference to this most pivotal sign.

The Lord knew that when we go to Daniel to find and learn of this event, a much larger and more detailed context begins to unfold. Daniel provides the chronological framework into which all other prophecies of the end find their proper place and order. Not only are we enabled to identify more definitely the time and nature of the desolating sacrilege that begins the great tribulation, but by tracing the events that lead up to and follow from the abomination, we get a much fuller picture of the nature, the time, and purpose of Jacob’s trouble.

Since there’s so much error attacking this basic outline, you might want to point out the close similarity of language between Mt 24:21 and Dan 12:1 with Jer 30:7, which proves beyond reasonable dispute that “the time of Jacob’s trouble” is, in fact, synonymous with the great tribulation.

Indeed, Dan 12:1-2 is key to showing that the great tribulation of “those days” ends in nothing short of the resurrection of the righteous dead. This makes the evil and disarming lie of ‘preterism’ (the view that the prophecies of Mt 24 were completely fulfilled in the 70 A.D. destruction of Jerusalem) impossible. The only alternative is to ‘spiritualize’ Daniel’s reference to the resurrection as already fulfilled in the past (which they do).

After the abomination has been identified in Dan 9:27, 11:31, and 12:11, it is a short step to show that the “Man of Sin” of Paul’s ‘little apocalypse’ (2Thes 2:1-8, esp. verse 4 [2Th 2:4]) is the same ‘self exalting’ prince / king described in Dan 11:36-37. Plainly, he is the one who places the abomination of desolation in Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11.

With this as background, one can begin a more comprehensive study of the Day of the Lord in the Old Testament. By marking the events and phenomena that are always associated with ‘that day’, we are not limited to only those passages where the particular term (DOL) is used, but a whole eschatology of the covenant begins to unfold. This assumes, of course, that one has some knowledge of the promises and threats of judgment contained in the covenant, since the covenant and the promise of a new covenant (the ‘everlasting’ covenant of regeneration) is the backbone of all Hebraic eschatology. End time prophecy is essentially “the eschatology of the covenant.”

It should be noted that not only in the OT, but no less in the NT, the events of the day of the Lord all center on a last conflict over Jerusalem. Jesus (Mt 24:15-31), Paul (2Thes 2:1-8), and John (Rev 11, 16) all make this connection. The return of Jesus ends the final siege of Jerusalem. That’s big! That’s significant!

Of course, many will agree. But it behooves a servant witness people to be prepared to show why. What is the inextricable connection between the Jesus question and the Jerusalem question? It is one thing to show ‘how’ the age ends. It is one thing to show the events that end the age as the necessary fulfillment of prophecy. But is another thing to show the meaning.

We must show why the age ends the way it does. How is God’s ancient covenant contention with Israel related to the issues that are at stake in the gospel of Christ? What is the place and role of Israel in pressing these issues upon the nations and calling individuals to Christ? Why does it matter what one believes about how the age ends?

A prophetic church is called to give more than an outline of events that fulfill prophecy. Mere excitement about the nearness of the end counts very little unless we “understand” (Dan 11:33) and are prepared to show the purpose. That will be the difference in the coming “great falling away.” It is the difference now.

Yours in the Beloved, Reggie

Full Question:
Brother Reggie,

This weekend I am going to be talking to a brother who has been listening to a lot of Art’s sermons via Sermon Index, and has gained an interest in our common eschatological view point. Knowing I’m one of a few people who hold this view on Sermon Index’s forums, he has asked if I would explain these things to him. I already have an idea of a couple basic texts I want to use to discuss the matter with this one brother. However, this is the first time I’ve ever sat down with somebody to try and show them these things systematically. My question is if you only had time to go through a few choice texts on this issue, which one’s would you use to demonstrate God’s eschatological dealings with mankind? I feel I have a sufficient grasp of this subject, but, would value whatever input you might be able to provide.

Many blessings,

Jimmy H.

“There is a rapidly growing segment of Orthodox Judaism, at least in Jerusalem, that is prophesying that present Israel will soon be destroyed, which will usher in God bringing forth a second exodus of the Jews coming out of the nations (Egypt) and into Israel. The orthodox believe this will take place because of an apostate Israeli government that gives God little choice but to judge the nation.”

One thing is certain. The judgments of the end are set in the context of a restored temple ritual that presupposes a great change in the present status of Jerusalem. This must change. I expect through war.

God is making a point that will reverberate in the Jewish soul for a thousand years. I want to show in what follows that it is very significant to God’s purpose that the Jerusalem that falls under the power of the Antichrist (Rev 11:2; 13:5) has first come under the control of the orthodox, if not entirely, at least to an unprecedented extent. (Compare Ps 83:12; Isa 28:14-15; 63:18; 64:10-11; Dan 8:13; 9:26-27; 11:22, 31, 36-37; 12:11; Mt 24:15, 20; 2Thes 2:4. ).

The picture one gets from these passages is of a Jerusalem that has accommodated the desire of certain orthodox sects of Judaism to rebuild the temple and restore the ancient ritual of animal sacrifice. This suggests sweeping changes in the current policies of the secular government, since under present circumstances; such a scenario is clearly out of the question. Something’s got to give!

I believe that nothing is more likely to produce the kinds of changes necessary to fulfill prophecy than a regional war, which everyone knows could easily escalate into a world war that can radically change everything. But contrary to the expectation of the orthodox group that you reference, I do not expect that Israel will, at this point, lose the Land to their enemies.

Think about it. If Israel lost the Land to the Islamic hordes, how soon do you think it would be before they got it back? Of course, this is not a problem for those who believe that Jacob’s trouble could begin tomorrow without an abomination of desolation and without the preceding events that scripture shows leading up to, and setting the stage for the abomination (Isa 28:15; Dan 9:27; Dan 11:23-31; 1Thes 5:3). This is precisely what the orthodox do not consider, as well as most Christians. For them, Israel’s final tribulation might as well begin tomorrow. But that is NOT the picture the Scripture presents.

However, if Israel should happen to come dangerously close to losing the Land through the political expediencies and concessions of the secular state, this could well account for the ascent of the orthodox to a greater influence in the government. It would also explain the ‘hard line’ that the orthodox can be expected to take on the Jerusalem question. You can see then what this would do to make Jerusalem the cup of trembling and burdensome stone to all nations that prophecy predicts (Isa 34:8; Zech 12:2-3 KJV).

All of this suggests the potential for great changes on the world scene, which could come over night through war. However, I do not expect this to be a war that Israel will lose to the point of another potentially age long expulsion, which, apart from special divine intervention, would be the result if the Land was lost to Israel’s enemies. This would imply an Islamic control of Jerusalem. This will come (Rev 11:2; Rev 13:5); but not yet. Before this, the orthodox must reclaim the ancient landmarks of temple and sacrifice.

Now permit me to show why I think this is crucial for God’s strategy in bringing the nation to the acknowledgement of Christ as the only acceptable righteousness by which anyone can stand before God.

You are right to note that it is not enough that we show the Jew WHAT prophecy says is coming. As you point out, there are some orthodox Jewish sects that expect apocalyptic judgments to bring down the secular state. They see themselves as the righteous remnant. That is why the winner of souls must be wise (Prov 11:30) to show the only ‘kind’ of righteousness that counts with God (Ro 10:2; Gal 6:15).

Therefore, even if apocalyptic judgments break forth, and persecution follows, the self righteous (of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity) actually feel confirmed in these kinds of events. This is why a false gospel is able to thrive in apocalyptic times (Mt 24:23-24). But God has a way of pressing on the Jewish conscience the other side of our message, which is the necessity of Christ for righteousness.

It falls to us to show Israel that Jesus is the paradox who is at once “a sanctuary,” but also “a stone of stumbling and rock of offense” (Isa 8:14). The prophetic testimony concerning Him (the gospel) is “the rest and the refreshing by which the weary are caused to rest” (Isa 28:12). But although this mystery is amply justified by the solid evidence of scripture compared with scripture (‘line upon line, here a little and there a little’), still it will be boldly rejected with a self assured boast of religious security (Isa 28:12-15). This boast will be shaken by the “sudden destruction” (1Thes 5:3) that comes when the abomination of desolation (Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11; Mt 24:15-16) begins “the time of Jacob’s trouble.” (Jer 30:6-7; Dan 12:1; Mt 24:21).

This gospel of the righteousness of God in Christ is the message that will be pressed on the Jewish conscience by Gentile witnesses that will bring the prophetic indictment to the scornful rulers of Jerusalem (Isa 28:14). Why do I say Gentile witnesses? The language of the text compared with its usage in other places suggests this. Such a scenario is in keeping with the irony of God that has ordained that Israel should be warned and admonished by those most likely to be discounted. [Hebrew scholars Keil and Delitzsch comment: “He would speak to them by a people that stammered in their estimation, i.e., who talked as barbarians (cf., barbari°zein and balbutire; see Isa 33:19, compared with Deut 28:49; Keil and Delitzsch.)]

Notice that the context of this prophetic testimony to Israel is after the religious leadership of Jerusalem has entered into the fateful covenant of death with the Antichrist. Although the tendency to trust in man is perennial, this is clearly eschatological, because the context is the final treading down of Jerusalem, which Revelation shows as the last 42 months (compare Isa 28:18 w/ Rev 11:2; 13:5).

This is in keeping with God’s intention that the gospel should be presented to Israel as a prophetic mystery to be made known by the writings of the prophets (Ro 16:25-26). In the context of Israel’s fatal misplacement of trust, Isaiah intimates the identity of the Israel’s Rock and the prophetic mystery that reveals itself in the gospel. “Therefore, thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily” (Isa 28:16). Reference to a ‘testimony’ that is “bound up,” and a ‘teaching’ that is “sealed up among My disciples” (Isa 8:16), as also a “book that is sealed” (Isa 29:11) is Isaiah’s language for what the NT calls, the mystery of Christ and the gospel (Col 4:3; Eph 6:19).

So we ask, how will Israel come to see and acknowledge Christ as the goal of both the law and the prophetic mystery contained in the Old Testament? We can hardly imagine what it will mean when the orthodox leadership in Israel is permitted to recover the temple and all the institutions of their ancient worship, only to have it all stripped suddenly away in the most unexpected and catastrophic reversal in all the nation’s history (Ps 83:12; Isa 63:18; 64:10-11; Dan 9:27; 12:11). These are the days that are particularly in view when Daniel says, “But the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many …” (Dan 11:32-33; 12:3).

After the presumptuous “league” with the Antichrist (Isa 28:15; Dan 8:25; 9:27; 11:23), Israel will dwell securely, but it will be a fatal and false security (Ezek 38:8; Dan 11:23-24; 1Thes 5:3). It is a tenuous peace that ends 3 ½ years later in the sudden Antichrist invasion of Jerusalem (Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11).

If we compare the 28th chapter of Isaiah with Jesus’ reference to flight being hindered on the Sabbath (Mt 24:20), we can reasonably infer that it is particularly the religious leadership of Jerusalem that has entered into the covenant with death and hell (Isa 28:15, 18). The prophetic indictment against this act will be brought by witnesses (Gentiles? Isa 28:11) who will also make a compelling case (Isa 28:9-10) for the gospel (Isa 28:12) from the Old Testament scriptures (Ro 16:25-26).

It is important that this act of ultimate presumption should be performed, not by a secular state, but by the nation’s most religious representatives. This is the end time continuation of that “generation” that delivered up the Son of God in its religious zeal (Deut 32:5, 20; Mt 17:17; 23:35-36; 24:34; Acts 7:51). God is saying something in this that is as important for the church to see as it is for Israel. It is ultimately instructive. This issue above all others is the real point of divine contention that comes down through the ages, beginning with what was represented in Cain’s sacrifice. It is the righteousness of God versus the righteousness of man, particularly at his religious best (Ps 39:5; Jn 2:25).

This ultimately presumptuous act on the part of Israel, particularly religious Israel, is an ultimate manifestation and divine statement of Israel’s detestable tendency to put confidence in man, which is no less the issue with the church. It is a tendency that is equally characteristic of even the most orthodox branches of Judaism. Just ask them about the source of their righteousness. It is the lie concerning what is ‘in man’ (Jer 10:23; 17:5; Jn 2:24; Ro 7:18).

It is the same lie that emboldened the religious leadership to hand Jesus over to be crucified. It is the power of the veil that is over the Jewish heart to this day. Israel has never understood how high the standard really is. That is why they can imagine that there is something in man that can assist towards its attainment. This is why God has chosen to permit Israel’s religious humanism to ‘have its day’, and to reach its highest pinnacle before it all comes down by the ‘overflowing scourge’ (Isa 28:18, Rev 11:2).

The impact of this on the Jewish psyche is almost impossible to calculate; it will mean utter devastation of every trusted category of Jewish existence. It is truly the destruction of “the pride of your power” (Lev 26:19), and I really believe the most tenacious form of Israel’s pride, or of anyone else’s, is the presumption that there is something acceptable in man, particularly religious man (Ro 7:18). It will be the task of the priestly church of the living God to identify with Israel’s tragic devastation even before it comes, and through that priestly pathos and empathy, to speak, and reason, and warn, out of the depths of Christ’s love for His estranged brethren.

This is why it will be the orthodox that will be basking in the euphoria of what they imagine to be the dawn of a new messianic era of peace and safety. Jewish religious presumption will be at its apex when the sudden destruction of Jacob’s trouble breaks upon the unsuspecting nation (1Thes 5:3). Then begins the process by which God will use the Antichrist to ‘scatter the power of the holy people’ (Isa 10:5 w/ Dan 12:7). But the power that shall be broken up is something more profound than mere military or economic power; it is particularly the pride of self reliant religious perfection. This was Paul (Phil 3:4-9).

Once again, I believe the power that is destroyed is most particularly the power of religious self reliance (Ro 9:11, 13, 16; 11:6; 1Cor 1:9; Phil 3:3). No other kind of power is more endemic or tenacious, because no other kind of power is more subtle and deceptive. It is the same error that has worked its mischief in the church, even as the Jews of the Middle-Ages used to call world Christendom, “the arrogant kingdom.” It is the deep human presumption concerning the nature of man. This is what the revelation of the man of sin is all about. It is the disclosure of what man is when stripped of that measure of temporal common grace, which veils (disguises) what is at the root of his being.

So far from moving the Jew to jealousy, historic Christendom has, for the large part, moved the Jew in the opposite direction. This tragic ‘guilt by association’ is what the church must overcome in its last day’s witness to Israel, since it is inconceivable that the age will end in such an abysmal abdication of the church’s mandate to move the Jew to jealousy.

The vindication of God in His instruction of principalities and powers through the church (Eph 3:10) would be seriously aborted if the church is removed before this final witness to Israel. This is why we believe that God has ordained that the church and Israel will meet in the wilderness of mutual flight and persecution (Isa 35:1; 40:2; 41:18-19; 42:11; 43:19-21; Jer 31:2; Hos 2:14; Mt 24:16; Rev 12:6). There, in the wilderness of stripping and humbling, God will “plead with Israel face to face” (Ezek 20:35), and it is not too metaphorical to suggest that His face will be reflected in the face of Gentile believers (Deut 32:21; Isa 28:11; Mt 21:43; Ro 10:19; 11:11, 31).

Your brother in His precious grace, Reggie

Dear Reggie,

Would one evangelistic approach perhaps be to use scripture to predict what is coming? Or do observant Jews already look for a “time of Jacob’s trouble” and an “abomination that causes desolation” and a “covenant of death” and so on?

Excellent question, Lindsay. It give me welcome occasion to express and reiterate some important points that may benefit others as well.

I think the best approach is indeed to witness first concerning “WHAT” is coming in order to prepare the way for “WHO” is coming, and to show that the one who is coming is returning from an earlier visitation (Mic 5:1, 3-4; Hos 5:15; Zech 12:10; Mt 23:39).

There is an implicit divine strategy implicit in the words, “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.” Just as God sent John ahead of Jesus to prepare the way, even so He sends a prophetic company ahead with the prophetic Word of judgment, since grace is always revealed where judgment has been justified as just and necessary.

Paul’s statement, “Christ is revealed at the end of the law,” is more than a statement concerning a change of dispensation. It is a divine principle. Christ is revealed at the end of the law, precisely because He is revealed at the end of human strength.

That is to say, human self sufficiency hinders the light of revelation that transforms and imparts a new nature. In other words, there must first be a humbling and an emptying as the Spirit uses the Word to make us sensible of our condition and need. The purpose of the law is to remove the lie that anything in man can accommodate the exceedingly high requirement of the law, because the law requires nothing less than Christ. In this way, the awakened sinner is “shut up” or crowded to Christ.

Just as God’s standard of righteousness is intended to create the crisis that makes men cry out for mercy, in the same way the judgments of the law (which culminate in Jacob’s trouble) call the Jewish people back to the “the bond of the covenant”, as the Christian makes the case that the law’s demands are too high to be satisfied and fulfilled by anything short of “the righteousness of God” provided in Jesus, as “the Lord our righteousness.”

The goal of Jacob’s trouble is to bring the Jew to an end of His own power. It is significant that this is precisely the place where Jesus is revealed to the Jewish heart, namely, at the end of power (“when He sees that their power is gone …” compare Deut 32:36 with Dan 12:7). This is because the strength of the veil that is over the Jewish heart, and indeed over every natural heart, stands in what scripture calls, “the pride of your power” (Lev 26:19). It is what Paul calls, “confidence in the flesh” (2Cor 1:9; Phil 3:3-4). When this is taken away, so is the veil in the revelation of the face of Jesus Christ (2Cor 3:18; 4:6).

I believe the suffering of the Jews during the time of Jacob’s trouble will be different from all other times of covenant curse and judgment, because this time, their suffering will be in the full light of a powerfully declared and fully vindicated display of prophetic fulfillment. (Prophecy as mercy! Rev 19:10).

The presence of a prophetic people that have the key of interpretation (Dan 11:33) and who, because of the liberating power of the gospel, love not their lives unto the death (Rev 12:11), will be the difference between Jacob’s trouble and the Holocaust. One ends with the ultimately humanistic declaration, “never again!” While the other ends by the acceptance of Israel’s history of tribulation as all together just and not unequal to the nation’s corporate guilt (Lev 26:41-43; Hos 5:15; Zech 12:10). Such a corporate acknowledgment will indeed be a miracle of revelation and grace.

So we are to bring into Israel’s consciousness something much more than the case for the supernatural fulfillment of prophecy. We are to study how to press upon Jewish consideration the ancient covenant contention that has burned throughout the long age of exile and that must continue to burn to the end of Jacob’s trouble, when the face of God will be no longer hidden from a then fully regenerate (Isa 54:13; 59:21; 60:21; 66:8; Jer 31:34; Ezek 39:21, 29) and restored nation.

The judgments of the covenant will not rest, because God will not long rest with anything short of His full covenant intention. But the church is for the large part woefully ignorant and or complacent concerning that intention and the severity of the means that God must employ to obtain it.

Jacob’s trouble is simply the intensive and ultimate outcome of what the scripture calls the “the quarrel of my covenant” (some translations say wrath or vengeance; Lev 26:25; Isa 10:6 w/ Lk 21:22-23). And no, Lindsay, very few among the observing Jewish community have even a clue about any of this. That”s our job.

When the Jews will be apprised of many of the particular details that distinguish and define Jacob’s trouble, it will have an unprecedented impact to begin to break up and weaken the strength of two millennial of cumulative and compounded Jewish unbelief, much that has been occasioned in the name of Christ. We are on the edge of something big.

Never, since the first century, has the church been in the presence of such a prolific and manifest fulfillment of prophecy. Here is real leverage for the Jew and the nations. No wonder John sees, “a multitude which no man can number coming out of ‘the tribulation, the great one’ (Rev 7:9, 14 w/ Dan 11:32-33; 12:3; Mt 24:14).

The particular details of OT prophecy, so perfectly corroborated by Jesus in His Olivet prophecy (e.g., Mt 24, esp. Mt 24:15-21 w/ Jer 30:6-7; Dan 9:27; 11:21 – 12:13) will one day create the perfect context of divine pleading for the church’s final witness to Israel. And the better the believer understands this context of covenant and prophecy concerning the imminent future, and the present trends that portend that future, the better the seed of the Word can be planted now concerning Jesus as the end (goal and fulfillment) of the Law for righteousness.

Just as the Law is used to crowd us to Christ, so the definite and detailed events of predictive prophecy that are based on God’s covenant is a key part of the leverage that God will use to plead with Israel. It was the apostolic approach to evangelism (Ro 16:25-26), and we have come full circle. We stand now on the threshold of the transition of the age. Jerusalem is once more becoming that burdensome stone to all nations and a cup of trembling (Isa 34:8; Zech 12:2-3).

When will the church wake up? When will believers shake off the world and band together to work as one and support each other in travail, in giving, and in serious prayer till this vision of the end times is made plain upon tables, so that when the hour strikes, it will not find us unprepared to make the most of the opportunity to instruct many? To borrow a phrase from Winston Churchill, it will be the church’s “finest hour.”

Many of the old Jewish sages would remark how they prayed to be sleeping in the dust in that day. Why, we should much more the rather pray to attain to that day, because it will be transformative for the church for all eternity (see Dan 11:35 and 12:10). Satan will be cast out and the church will be ‘demonstrably’ triumphant over the threats and accusations of Satan, and all the lesser principalities and powers of this age (Rev 12:10).

This age that some call the “Laodicean” age will not close in an anti-climactic whimper by a secret pre-trib rapture, but rather in a glorious church that openly demonstrates before men and angels the power and life of the Spirit to the end that Israel is made jealous. In analogy with Stephen’s martyr witness before Saul, the church of that hour will demonstrate something that the Jew cannot lightly dismiss, and this will work in the elect remnant until the day of their change at the end of Jacob’s trouble (Isa 59:21; 66:8; Ezek 39:22; Zech 3:9; 12:10; Mt 23:39; Acts 3:21; Ro 11:26; Rev 1:7).

In His precious service, Reggie

Wed, Mar 12, 2008
I was wanting to know if you had any insights/holy musings about the identity of these two. From what I’ve studied and been exposed to regarding this, I’ve heard the following conclusions:

1. They are symbols for the “dispensation” of Israel & the Church
2. Elijah & Moses ala James, Peter’s, and John’s vision/visitation on the Mountain.
3. Daniel & John (a different take I thought)
4. Enoch & Elijah, or Enoch and some other combination.
5. Some other hitherto, unrevealed, yet comprehensively fulfilling (for all ages), symbolic designation per Zechariah chapter 4.

Of course, many, many er…”inspired” folk have also taken upon…(suprise) themselves!- to be either one or both of these personages as well, but in a precious moment of spiritual sobriety, I will forgoe the conclusion that these cases are moot for the negative. Now, I have just got my copy of David Baron’s commentary on Zechariah, so I don’t know what he has/had to say about it…but regardless, any further insight would be appreciated.

I’ve yet to check out what David Baron has written on Zech 4 in particular, but you could scarce get a more reliable guide than Baron in most things pertaining to Israel in prophecy. I recently consulted his commentary on Zechariah to get his take on the woman and the ephah.

I see Zechariah chapters 3 & 4 to be the key. Rev 11:4 explicitly ties these two witnesses of the end to what was first symbolized in the offices and ministries of Joshua, the high priest, and the governor, Zerubbabel of the royal seed of David. “These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth”.

 Twice in Zech 4 the question is asked concerning the identity of the two olive trees that stand on either side of the golden, seven lamp candelabrum, which we know as the Menorah (Zech 4:4, 11). The answer that follows the question of verse 4 is less specific concerning the identity of the two olive trees but addresses itself to the the vision in its entirety, as this will be crucial to the more specific identification the two olive trees and the two golden pipes in that answers the second question of verse 11.

2 And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:

3 And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.

4 So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?

This is the word of the Lord  unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord  of hosts. 7 Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it … The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord  of hosts hath sent me unto you. For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

11 Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? … Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord  of the whole earth.

So before coming to the more specific question of verse 11 concerning the two olive trees in particular, the prophet inquires in verse 4, “what are THESE?”. Here, the prophet’s question is referring back to what is represented in the whole of the vision in every aspect of its configuration. The point of all being that what Zechariah will personally witness of Zerubbabel’s successful completion of the temple (the house), but this will amount to a disappointing ‘day of small things’ that will witness to something far greater that will follow upon the yet future day of the Lord and the greater return that follows that great transition. This becomes evident, not only by the later chapters of the book of Zechariah, 8, 10, and 14 in particular, but the prophecy of his fellow contemporary prophet, Haggai.  (see Hag 2:2-3, 6-7, 9, 21-23).

2 Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying, 3 Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? … 6 For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; 7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts … 9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts… 21 Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth; 22 And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother. 23 In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts.

Clearly, this is the background of Rev 11’s reference to the two witnesses. This suggests very strongly that we are to understand the work of the two witnesses in the light of the eschatological “restoration of all things” (Mal 4:5; Lk 1:17; Mt 17:11), which reaches its predestined climaxin the return of Jesus from heaven (Acts 3:21). Their task will be to fulfill the roles pre-typified in the anointed offices of Joshua and Zerubabbel in the completion of the house. Taken with all that scripture reveals concerning a great final work of restoration that will prevail to remove the veil over the hearts of the elect nation, it becomes clear that there is a spiritual house waiting to be completed BEFORE the physical house that will be the new, millennial temple to be erected atop the plateau that will rise with the splitting of the Mount of Olives (Zech 14:4-5, 9-11).

This spiritual restoration of the spiritual house that will precede the final earthly witness of a new temple centered in a restored Israel, will take place in the final 3 1/2 years of ultimate, world wide gospel witness. This great work of turning and restoration will happen, not only because the two witnesses are ministering the Word of the Lord from the streets of Antichrist infested Jerusalem, but because throughout the nations, the saints of the final persecution (i.e., the ‘maskilim’ who have insight and understanding of the meaning of these things) will be turning a “multitude which no one can number” to faith in Jesus (Dan 11:32-33, 35; 12:3, 10; Mt 24:14; Rev 7:9, 13-14; 14:6).

So who are the two? When I think of two anointed ones “that stand by the God of the whole earth,” I think of the Mount of Transfiguration, when Moses and Elijah appeared standing by Jesus. This is rich. What they represented then is what I believe is represented in the two witnesses in the over all divine purpose to “restore the fallen house.” There is much to this, as I believe ‘the house’ (in this spiritual sense) must first be restored before captive Israel can return.

Just as the anointed offices of priest and king meet perfectly in Christ in Zech 6:13, so here is the combined witness of Moses and the prophets all pointing to the perfection that is in Christ. This does not mean, however, that I expect the literal Moses and Elijah to show up in the streets of Jerusalem for the final witness, although certain of the same phenomena associated with their ministries are reproduced in the tribulation judgments. It is enough to see that whoever the witnesses are, they come, like the Lord’s reference to John Baptist, “in the spirit and power” of Elijah, not necessarily the literal individual (which creates more problems for interpretation than it solves).

Note also that in Zech 4 there is mention of the seven candlesticks of the menorah, and this is carried over in John’s revelation as reference to the seven churches of Asia, very significant. The two witnesses pour the oil (the illumination of the truth that empowers for anointed service) through two pipes into the bowl that feeds the seven candlesticks, which the Spirit by John will interpret as the seven churches in all their mixed spiritual condition. The symbolism obviously intends much more than seven principal local assemblies in ancient Asia Minor.

The seven churches stand for the light of witness, in both sickness and in health, that has characterized the confessing bodies of believer’s in Jesus throughout this age. And not this age only, since the Menorah obviously symbolized the light of Israel in the restoration under Joshua and Zerubabbel before it is used by the Spirit to symbolize the seven churches, and thus most climactically the saints of the last and unequaled tribulation.

Although this figurative imagery is rich with meaning for the church of all time, once more, it seems that there is a special corporate fullness in view for the saints of the last, ‘great tribulation’. If these witnesses are more than mere symbol, and if they are not re-incarnations (which is contrary to scripture), then something has brought these two servants, our brothers, to this point of special empowerment, and this is full of significance for all the body of Christ that will be enduring the last tribulation, because not only does the two witnesses receive ‘power’ at this point, but according to my reading of Rev 12 and other related passages in Daniel, so does all the true body at this time, or at least a vanguard remnant. This raises the compelling question: What has brought the church to this for such a time as this?

The answer to that question touches everything that is currently at stake. It has all to do with God’s use of Daniel’s end time vision and its definite chronology to cut off all confidence in the flesh and to crowd the church to a place of reality, urgency, and ultimacy with God, (“another will gird you and take you where you would not have gone”). The same convergence of revealed truth and chronological certainty will powerfully move the church into a corporate urgency (‘travail’ in analogy to Daniel’s prevailing prayer in Dan 10) hat will enforce the victory of Calvary in the heavenly realms (great corporate apprehension of the power of the gospel), empowering Michael to evict Satan affecting the final exposure of evil and the last persecution of the victorious martyr witness church who “love not their lives unto the death,” because perfect love has cast out fear even in the face of the most fearful and certain prospect of death. No wonder the heavens respond with such glorious hallelujahs.

All of this is nothing new. It was lived out in the apostolic period in principal, but must have a time of final expression and vindication of fulfillment in the last 3 1/2 years, which is why I’m so personally interested in the critical role that the first half of Daniel’s last seven years plays in the church’s preparation for the last half of the week, which is the unequaled tribulation. I can’t go into all of it now, but if you’re interested, I’ll give the evidence for why I’m convinced that the two witnesses prophesy, not in the first three years and a half, but in the second half of the week.

Ever yours in the Beloved,
Reggie